HD 
532.6 

C6H3 


UC-NRLF 


SB    264 


VOLKSZEITUNO    LIBRARY 

PUBLISHED    QUARTER!^/ 

*  •      r  .... 

Kntered  as  Second  Class  matter  at  the  New  tfork:'  l*ost  Office,  bet. "30,' 1899' 


Vol.  VI  ) 
No.    4-     j 


NE\Y  YORK,  JULY,  19O4- 


,  6Oc. 


Colorado! 


o      — J 
r!     O. 

pl      <      S 


d 


,72 


ON 


BEN. 


\\ 


Socialistic  Co-operative  Publishing  Association 
Xo.     184     WILLIAM     STREET,     N  E  \V      VOKK 

PRICE,    5    CENTS 

IN    QUANTITY,     $2.50    A    HUNDRED 


THE  COOPERATIVE  PRESS,   134  WILLIAM   ST.,   NEW  YORK 


r      r       i       •  i       i         r 


ialist   Pamphlets 


Where  We  Stand.     By  John  Spargo.     5  cents. 

Why  Workingmen  Should  Be  Socialists.    By  H. 

Gaylord  Wilshire.     2  cents,  $1.25  per  100. 

Socialism    Explained     in    Plain    Language. 

By  A.  A,  Lewis.     3  cents,  10  copies  for  20  cents. 

Labor    Politics     and    Socialist    Politics.      By 

Algernon  Lee.     3  cents,  10  copies  for  20  cents. 

Railroading  in  the  United  States.     By  Benjamin 
Hanford.     5  cents,  40  copies  for  $1.00. 

The    Clerical    Capitalist.     By   Rev.    Thomas   Mc- 
Grady.      ;o  cents. 

The  Proletariat.     By  Karl  Kautsky.     5  cents. 
The  Capitalist  Class.     By  Karl  Kautsky.     5  cents. 

The  Communist   Manifesto.     By  Karl  Marx    and 
Frederick  Engels.      10  cents. 

Ein  Wort  an  die  Arbeiter  Amerikas.     5  cents, 
$1.00  per  100. 

Was  ist  Sozialismus?     Von  Emil  Liess.     10  cents, 
$6.00  per  100. 

SOCIALIST  LITERATURE  COMPANY 

184  William  Street,  New  York 


939- 

THE  LABOR  WAR  IN  CfiLOMDO. 

:BY    BEN    HANFORD. 

There  have  been  many  so-called  "investigations"  of  the  pres- 
ent labor  troubles  in  Colorado.  Those  coming  under  my  observa- 
tion have  without  exception  presented  what  the  writers  wero 
pleased  to  call  "both  sides."  This  has  included  a  summing  up 
of  various  acts  which  the  different  writers  have  assumed  to  be 
for  or  against  each,  and  on  these  premises  basing  a  verdict  to 
the  effect  that  "both  sides  are  to  blame."  I  went  to  Colorado  to 
investigate  the  present  trouble  there  to  a  considerable  degree 
under  the  influence  of  the  idea  that  there  were  wrongs  as  well 
as  rights  on  both  sides. 

My  researches,  however,  have  entirely  eliminated  any  such 
impression.  As  between  the  strikers  and  their  former  employers 
in  the  present  warfare  in  Colorado,  one  side  is  entirely  in  tbe 
right  and  the  other  side  is  wholly  in  the  wrong.  There  are  two 
sides  to  the  question  only  in  the  sense  that  there  are  two  sides 
to  the  question  as  to  whether  a  thief  shall  have  the  "right"  to 
rob  an  honest  man,  or  whether  the  perpetrators  of  deliberate 
murder  for  financial  gain  are  entitled  to  consideration  from  such 
survivors  as  they  only  failed  to  make  their  victims  through  lack 
of  power.  The  present  struggle  in  Colorado  is  not  a  war  between 
capital  and  labor.  It  is  a  war  by  capitalists  against  laborers. 

Only  One  Right  Side. 

In  these  present  Colorado  troubles  ALL  the  facts  are  on  the 
side  of  the  men.  The  strikers  have  been  peaceable,  law-abiding 
and  orderly.  Opposed  to  them  have  been  gentlemen,  barbarians, 
Ravages  and  traitors,  and  the  private  police,  deputy  sheriffs,  mili- 
tary, thugs,  bad  men  and  all  the  other  agencies  which  can  be 
evoked  to  accomplish  the  robbery  and  bring  about  the  enslave- 
ment of  free  men  through  the  use  of  all  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment by  persons  and  corporations  who  look  up,Qn..the  forces  of 
the  State  as  their  private  property  and  use  them  for  their  per- 
sonal gains. 

There  is  only  one  possible  criticism  which  can  be  made  againat  |5» 
the  strikers.     It  will  remain  for  posterity  to  judge  whether  It  !>»• 
justified.     The  strikers  have  constantly  pursued  a  ponVy  of  nun-    J I 
resistance  by  physical  force.     SomeNof ''t/ftejn^aye^  been  ^xunl»»ri%il. 
their  houses  have  been  searched  with^oit/warnv'iA.tlii*,  nghr  ut' 
free  speech  and  free  assemblage  have  bee*n 


•-•-•-'••<  O 

«      '  i         t     c-      *    *  i.      •        •  _ 

•  «    °  •    ••     •    o  e  •    *      • 

1  . 


upon,*  fheir 'famrlies'h{ftq  been  insulted,  their  leaders  have  been 
<is<sacul4:e/J,«_  jailed;,  writ  of  rlsabeas  corpus  and  right  of  trial  by 
ijui'j  .has'j^etf.  de'iTied,;  t'qtVv  Imve  been  hounded  from  their  homes 
-  and  deported  from  the  "State  without  form,  semblance  or  process 
of  law— and  for  what?  What  heinous  crime  had  they  committed? 

Their  Only  Crime. 

They  had  refused  to  work  on  terms  which  to  them  seemed  dis- 
honorable. In  short.  THEY  REFUSED  TO  BECOME  SCABS. 

Under  all  these  outrages  it  has  been  only  short  of  miraculous 
that  these  men  have  been  so  absolutely  self-restrained  that  they 
have  not  once  taken  the  initiative  in  an  appeal  to  force,  and  it 
has  been  the  universal  rule  for  them  to  bear  with  dignity  and 
resignation  the  burdens  and  contumely  heaped  upon  them.  This 
lias  not  been  through  any  lack  on  their  part  of  courage  to  dare 
or  power  to  perform.  What,  then,  was  the  force  AArhich  kept 
^lese  men  so  self-contained  through  all  this  fearful  stress? 

It  was  their  loyalty  to  the  working  class  of  the  nation  and  the 
world.  They  suffered  unspeakable  wrongs  without  resistance 
in  order  that  you  workingmen,  you  union  workiugmen,  of  tlu3 
North,  South,  East  and  West  might  catch  up  with  them.  They 
knew  that  their  fellow  workers  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
were  not  informed  as  to  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  they  knew 
that  their  fellow  nnion  men  were  informed  only  of  such  things 
as  their  employers  through  control  of  the  press  saw  fit  for  them 
to  know,  and  they  knew  that,  no  matter  what  victories  they 
might  win  by  force,  they  would  be  regarded  by  their  brethren  as 
having  taken  up  arms  against  their  country  and  its  flag.  These 
men  of  the  Rockies  understood  the  Beast  Capitalism,  and  they 
suffered  their  awful  wrongs  without  physical  resistance  in  order- 
that  their  fellow  men  might  catch  up  with  them,  might  become 
wise  in  time,  and  because  of  their  sufferings  might  take  such 
steps  as  to  save  themselves  from  like  sufferings. 

That,  too,  my  fellow  vrorkingmen  and  fellow  union  men,  is 
the  purpose  of  this  pamphlet.  It  is  not  written  to  record  the 
praises  of  the  union  men  of  Cripple  Creek  and  Trinidad  and  Tellu 
ride.  Their  deeds  are  their  monument,  and  their  sufferings  their 
song  of  praise.  But  you  workingmen  outside  of  Colorado  should 
see  to  it  that  their  sufferings  shall  not  have  been  iu  vain. 

Bull  Pens  on  Boston  Common. 

If  you  nnion  men  would  not  have  bull  pens  in  Boston  Common, 
if  you  would  not  have  your  houses  searched  without  warrant  in 
New  York,  if  you  would  not  be  deported  from  your  homes  in 
Philadelphia  and  Chicago,  if  you  would  not  live  in  fear  of  assas- 


o 

•  > 


situation  for  no  other  cause  than  that  you  arc  a  member  of  a  lain  r 
organization;  if  the  workingmeu  of  Oregon  ami  Texas,  of  Mnii,  • 
and  Wisconsin,  and  every  other  State  and  Territory  <>i  tin-  I'nioii 
would  not  lose  the  right. to  organize;  if  the  men  whose  labor  feeds 
find  clothes  and  warms  and  shelters  the  peoples  of  the  earth 
would  not  lose  the  right  to  live,  it  would  be  wise  for  them  [••> 
study  carefully  and  well  the  history  of  the  Labor  War  in  Colo- 
rado'. 

After  years  of  effort  by  trade  unionists,  an  eight-hour  law. 
applicable  to  persons  employed  in  and  about  mines,  was  passed 
by  the  Colorado  Legislature  in  1890.  The  corporations  fought 
it  in  the  courts,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  declared  it  u> 
be  unconstitutional,  although  similar  laws  had  been  held  to  be 
valid  in  various  other  states,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  approved  such  a  law  for  Utah. 

When  this  law  was  set  aside  by  the  Supreme  Court  the.  union 
men  who  had  worked  so  hard  and  so  long  for  its  enaetnit  nt  did 
not  appeal  to  force  of  arms  or  advocate  violence. 

Colorado's  Eight-Hour  Law. 

The  law  having  been  declared  unconstitutional,  they  went  to 
work  by  peaceful,  legal  and  orderly  processes  to  change  ihe  Stale 
Constitution,  and  at  the  election  in  1902  an  amendment  to  that 
instrument  was  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  State  providing 
that  the  Legislature  "SHALL  ENACT"  an  eight-hour  law  Id- 
all  persons  working  in  :iiid  about  the  mines  of  Colorado. 

Every  political  party  in  the  state  favored  that  amendment. 
Every  one  of  the  thirty-five  members  of  the  Senate  and  ev« 
one  of  the  sixty-five  members  of  the  House  was  elected  on  a 
platform  declaring  that  such  a  law  would  be  enacted  if  the  con- 
stitutional amendment  was  carried.  The  amendment  received 
a  majority  of  the  vote  east  in  every  county  of  the  State  ex- 
cept five,  and  in  the  State  it  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  4t'>,7H 
votes. 

After  the  election  the  Legislature  met,  transacted  its  business 
and  adjourned- AND  PASSED  NO  EIUHT-HOru  LAW. 

Why?     The  world  knows  why.     Because  its  members  had  b 
bribed,  jockeyed  and  bulldozed  by  the  corporation  interests  intl;  • 
State  who  did  not  want  an  eight-hour  law. 

The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  in  particular  ami  labor  or- 
ganizations in  general  have  been  denounced  as  lawless  bodies. 
By  whom?  By  the  very  persons  who  violated  the  law  of  the 
State  at  its  fountain  head,  by  the  persons  who  corrupted  its  law 
making  body,  and  set  aside  an  amendment  to  ihe  Constitution 
of  the  State  because  it  interfered  wnu  their  "business  int.  . 


The  men  who  officer  the  labor  organizations  of  Colorado  have 
been  called  anarchists.  Those  who  wish  to  find  the  real 
anarchists  in  Colorado  should  go  to  the  State  Capitol  at  Denver, 
and  there  they  will  be  found  in  the  person  of  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  members  of  the  Legislature,  and  if  they  would  find 
anarchists  and  traitors,  they  should  place  their  hands  on  the 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Colorado  and  his  Adjutant-General  and 
the  men  who  own  them. 

Anarchy  and  Treason  in  the  State  House. 

Treason  and  anarchy  in  the  State  House  at  Denver  is  the  first 
and  greatest  cause  of  the  present  labor  troubles  in  Colorado. 

The  second  cause  was  the  constant  and  persistent  discrimina- 
tion by  the  corporations  against  the  employment  of  union  men. 

These  two  things — the  failure  to  pass  the  eight-hour  law  and 
the  discharge  of  men  from  their  work  because  they  saw  fit  to 
exercise  their  legal  right  to  join  a  labor  organization — comprise 
tne  substantial  causes  of  the  present  difficulties.  All  other  mat- 
ters, wages,  ventilation  of  mines,  and  the  scrip  system  of  pay 
ment  (in  the  Trinidad  coal  field),  could  have  been  adjusted  with- 
out difficulty. 

The  strikes  were  first  to  enforce  the  underlying  law,  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  calling  for  an  eight-hour  law.  They  were 
second  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  men  to  maintain  their  legal 
right  to  become  members  of  a  labor  organization. 

In  their  efforts  the  strikers  have  constantly  pursued  the  arts 
of  argument,  persuasion  and  peace. 

The  employers  from  the  first  have  resorted  to  force,  fraud  and 
treason. 

COLORADO  CITY. 

Employers  Discriminate  Against  Union  Men. 

For  a  long  time  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  had  endeav- 
ored to  organize  the  mill  and  smeltermen  into  unions.  The  work 
had  been  difficult  on  account  of  the  discrimination  of  the  em- 
ployers against  union  men.  Of  course,  the  managers  were  in  fa- 
vor of  "free  labor/'  insisted  that  their  men  did  not  want  to  join 
a  union,  and  in  order  to  save  them  from  the  tyranny  of  labor 
organizations,  they  employed  corps  of  spies  to  report  to  them 
every  man  who  became  a  member,  and  such  men  were  immedi- 
ately tired.  NotAvithstanding  this,  the  men  were  effectively  or- 
ganized, and  on  Feb.  14,  1903,  Mill  and  Smeltermen's  Union,  No. 
125,  at  Colorado  City,  went  on  strike  to  redress  a  number  of 
grievances,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the  discrimination  against 
union  men,  and  to  secure  an  eight-hour  day.  This  should  be 


particularly  noted,  for  in  all  the  present  strikes  in  Colorado  the 
two  questions,  that  of  discrimination  against  union  men  and 
the  eight-hour  day,  have  been  the  real,  points  at  issue. 

The  Militia  Ordered  Out. 

March  3,  seventeen  days  after  the  strike,  Governor  Peabody 
ordered  the  troops  to  Colorado  City.  Why?  On  what  informa- 
tion? 

Manager  MacNeill,  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  went  to 
the  sheriff  of  El  Paso  County  (in  which  Colorado  City  is  situated) 
with  letters  from  himself  and  other  mill  managers  asking  the 
Sheriff  to  call  upon  the  Governor  for  troops.  The  Sheriff  then 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor  to  the  effect  that  he  (the  sheriff) 
had  received  communications  from  the  mill  and  mine  managers 
requesting  that  troops  be  sent  to  Colorado  City,  and  Manager 
MacNeill  carried  the  sheriff's  letter  to  the  Governor.  The  Gov- 
ernor conferred  with  MacNeill  and  other  managers— and  sent 
the  troops. 

Were  they  needed?    For  what  purpose  were  they  sent? 

The  sheriff  asked  for  them  obediently  to  the  wishes  of  the 
mill  owners.  But  Colorado  City's  Mayor,  Chief  of  Police,  City 
Attorney,  Councilmen,  and  hundreds  of  citizens  passed  resolu- 
tions and  signed  petitions  protesting  against  the  militia  bein^ 
r.sed,  and  insisting  that  there  was  no  disorder. 

Why  should  the  Governor  send  troops  to  the  strike  field  at  the 
request  of  a  sheriff,  who  professed  no  other  information  than 
that  received  from  one  side  to  the  controversy,  the  mine  o\vu- 
ers?  Why  should  the  Governor  ignore  not  only  the  statements 
of  the  strikers  to  the  effect  that  there  had  been  and  was  not 
likely  to  be  any  disorder,  but  the  protests  of  citizens,  city  attor- 
ney, chief  of  police,  mayor  and  city  councilmen  to  the  same 
effect? 

The  Militia  "Keep  Order." 

As  soon  as  the  troops  arrived,  however,  "things  were  doing.' 
Then  violence  began.  Pickets  of  the  strikers,  peaceable  and  un- 
armed men,  wrere  arrested— by  the  military.  Property  of  the 
union  was  confiscated— by  the  military.  Men  were  denied  the 
use  of  th«  public  highway— by  the  military.  Vile,  profane,  in- 
pulting  language  was  used  to  the  officers  of  the  union  in  their 
own  headquarters— by  the  military,  Col.  Brown,  spokesman. 
From  the  time  the  troops  arrived  in  the  strike  lield  they  and  their 
officers  used  every  possible  measure  to  cause  the  strikers  to  re- 
sort to  violent  and  disorderly  methods—without  avail. 

Public  sentiment  became  so  strong  against  the  Governor  that 


6 

he  was  compelled  to  visit  Colorado  City  in  person  to  investigate 
conditions,  which  ho  did  on  March  11,  but  went  only  to  the  mine 
oAvners  and  the  feAV  strike-breakers  employed  in  the  mills,  entirely 
ignoring  the  strikers. 

From  the  first  the  union  had  offered  to  submit  all  matters  in 
controversy  to  impartial  arbitration,  and  after  the  Governor's 
visit  to  Colorado  City  public  sentiment  was  so  strong  in  favor  of 
the  justice  of  the  strikers'  demands  and  the  fair  and  orderly 
manner  in  Avhich  they  sought  to  enforce  them  that  the  Governor 
was  forced  to  request  the  mill  managers  and  the  representa- 
tives of  the  union  to  meet  in  his  office  to  discuss  their  differences. 
As  the  result  of  a  conference  lasting  from  2  p.  m.  till  3  a.  m.  an 
agreement  Avas  reached  betAveen  the  union  and  the  Telluride  and 
Portland  mills.  Had  the  managers  of  these  companies  met  the 
officers  of  the  unions  to  discuss  their  differences  when  the  men 
had  asked  for  a  conference  there  need  have  been  no  strike. 

But  Manager  MacNeill,  of  the  Standard  mill  of  the  United 
States  Reduction  &  Refining  Co.,  Avould  make  no  agreement 
Avith  the  men  at  that  time.  Later  a  committee  of  business  men 
and  mine  owners  practically  A'ouched  for  the  good  faith  of  Mac- 
Neill (who  would  sign  no  agreement)  in  the  reinstatement  of 
strikers  and  men  discharged  for  membership  in  the  union,  and  at 
the  beginning  of  April  this  strike  passed  into  history. 

A  Traitor  Governor  Dickers. 

Governor  Peabody  withdrew  the  troops,  but  only  ON  CONDI 
TION  THAT  THE'  UNION  OFFICIALS  WITHDRAW  ALL 
DAMAGE  SUITS  WHICH  THEY  HAD  BROUGHT  AGAINST 
THE  MILITARY  AUTHORITIES.  As  the  price  of  peace  the 
men  were  forced  to  Avaive  their  civil  rights  in  the  courts  of  the 
State  by  a  Governor  Avho  had  sworn  to  uphold  the  law. 

On  July  3,  1903,  the  employees  of  the  American  Smelting  and 
Refining  Co.  in  its  Denver  mills  went  on  strike  for  an  eigllt- 
honr  day,  and  on  August  10  the  miners  of  the  Cripple  Creek  dis- 
trict employed  in  mines  shipping  ore  to  MacNeill's  mills  went  on 
strike.  The  men  were  forced  to  take  this  step  because  MacNeill 
had  in  no  particular  lived  up  to  the  promises  Avhich  had  been 
made  in  his  behalf,  and  also  to  put  a  stop  to  discrimination  against 
union  nier. 

In  view  of  the  reiterated  assertions  of  Peabodv,  Bell,  mine 
OAvners,  mill  managers,  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  and 
others  of  recent  date,  to  the  effect  that  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners  Is  and  has  ahvays  been  a  laAvless  body  of  riotous  incen- 
diaries, the  following  paragraph  from  the  public  statement  of 
the  Mine  Owners'  Association  of  the  Cripple  Creek  district  should 


be  noted.     It  was  issued  on  August  12,  1903,  two  days  after  the 
strike  was  called: 

"At  the  time  the  strike  was  called  and,  in  fact,  ever  since 
the  settlement  of  the  labor  difficulties  of  1894,  the  most  entire 
harmony  and  good  will  has  prevailed  between  the  mine 
owners  and  employes  in  the  district.  Wages  and  hours  of 
labor  have  been  satisfactory  and  according  to  union  stand- 
ards, and  general  labor  conditions  have  been  all  that  could 
be  wished." 

The  strike  was  an  orderly  and  peaceful  one.  It  consisted  in 
nothing  more  than  in  refraining  from  work  on  the  part  of  the 
union  men  and  those  who  agreed  with  them.  There  was  no  dis- 
order, lawlessness  or  violence. 

The  Brigadier-General  Orders  Himself  to  the  Front. 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  mine  owners  called  upon  the  Gov- 
ernor for  the  militia.  The  Governor  said  he  would  cause  an  in- 
vestigation to  be  made.  By  whom?  By  Brig-Gen.  John  Chas?. 
and  Lieutenant  T.  E.  McClelland.  These  eminent  military 
gentlemen  went  to  the  Cripple  Creek  district  to  look  things  over. 
They  arrived  in  Victor  at  9.30  p.  in.,  spent  an  hour  there  in  con- 
sultation with  a  committee  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association, 
arrived  at  Cripple  Creek  at  11:40  p.  in.,  went  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  there,  and  remained  in  confer- 
once  with  the  owners  for  two  hours,  then  sent  for  Sheriff  Robert- 
son and  spent  two  hours  in  consultation  with  him.  Sheriff  Rob- 
ertson strenuously  protested  against  the  use  of  the  militia.  What 
was  the  verdict  of  the  Governer's  Commission?  They  left  Crip- 
ple Creek  on  a  special  train  at  4:10  a.  in.,  after  being  in  the  dis- 
trict less  than  seven  hours,  and  reported  to  the  Governor  that 
troops  Avere  needed.  In  other  words,  they  ordered  themseh-es 
to  the  scene,  and  on  the  5th  of  September  the  troops  Avent  to 
Cripple  Creek. 

The  Mayor,  a  tool  of  the  Mine  OAvners,  the  Postmaster,  and 
a  banker  A\*ere  the  only  ones  except  the  mine  OAvners  and  man- 
agers Avho  wanted  troops  sent  to  Cripple  Creek. 

The  Sheriff  protested  against  it. 

The  Board  of  County  Commissioners  unanimously  protested 
against  it. 

The  City  Council  of  Victor  protested  against  it. 

Mass  meetings  protested  against  it. 

Five  days  after  the  strike  Avas  called  President  .Mover  ad- 
dressed the  folloAving  Avords  to  a  meeting  of  the  strikers  of  Crip- 
ple Creek. 

"I  sincerely  trust  and  advise  that  nothing  be  done  durini: 


8 

this  trouble  that  will  be  in  violation  of  the  law.  If  men  feel 
it  their  duty  to  take  a  position  against  yon  who  are  striving 
to  procure  your  rights,  you  will  do  nothing  but  harm  your 
position  by  resorting  to  violation  of  the  laws." 

A  Public  Army  for  Private  Profit. 

But  the  mine  owners  wanted  troops,  and  the  Governor  sent 
them.  If  any  one  thinks  the  troops  were  sent  to  uphold  the  law 
and  to  do  impartial  police  duty,  he  has  only  to  know  that  before 
they  were  sent  the  mine  owners  agreed  with  the  Governor  that 
THEY  WOULD  FAY  FOR  THE  TROOPS.  Pour  per  cent. 
State  certificates  of  indebtedness  were  issued,  these  the  mine 
owners  cashed.  They  paid  the  charges  and  they  got  the  goods. 

After  five  days  in  the  district  the  military  began  on  Sept.  10  a 
rule  of  mob  law  by  bayonet.  Men  were  arrested  without  war- 
rant, charges  or  process  of  law.  City  and  county  officials,  strik- 
ers and  citizens  who  dared  to  say  or  were  suspected  of  daring  to 
think  that  a  trade  union  had  any  virtues  were  haled  to  military 
headquarters  to  give  an  account  of  themselves.  Not  only  was 
it  a  sin  to  belreve  in  trade  unions— it  was  a  crime  not  to  be- 
lieve in  the  Mine  Owners'  Association.  Any  one  pointed  out  by 
them  was  immediately  arrested  and  placed  in  the  bull  pen,  some 
of  them  not  being  allowed  to  see  a  friend  or  an  attorney.  Judgo 
Seeds  issued  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  and  when  the  imprisoned 
men  were  brought  into  his  court,  Generals  Bell  and  Chase 
surrounded  the  court"  with  troops,  planted  a  gatling  gun  in  front, 
placed  sharpshooters  on  the  roofs  of  adjacent  houses,  and  filled 
the  court  rooms  with  militiamen.  The  attorneys  for  the  men 
protested  against  the  presence  of  the  soldiers  in  the  court,  but 
the  officers  of  the  guard  refused  to  withdraw  their  men,  and  the 
attorneys  withdrew  from  the  case  rather  than  serve  in  a  court 
overawed  and  intimidated  by  armed  men  not  responsible  to  the 
judge. 

But  the  judge  held  court  and  issued  an  order  that  the  prisoners 
bo  surrendered  to  the  civil  authorities.  The  generals  of  the 
Mine  Owners  Militia  refused  to  comply  with  the  order  of  the 
court,  and  the  prisoners  were  marched  back  to  the  bull  pen.  They 
were  later  released  by  the  Governor's  order,  but  others  were 
arrested,  some  of  them  several  times,  and  held  for  long  periods. 

• 

Printers  in  the  Bull  Pen. 

On  the  night  of  Sept.  20,  '03,  the  State  militia  under  command 
of  Gen.  Chase,  forcibly  entered  the  office  of  the  Victor  Record, 
arrested  the  whole  force  of  the  paper  and  marched  them  to  the 
bull  pen,  where  they  were  held  for  24  hours  before  they  were 


9 

delivered  to  the  civil  authorities  on  writs  of  habeas  corpus.  The 
Victor  Record  had  committed  the  crime  of  being  on  the  side  of 
the  men,  and  had  protested  against  the  outrages  of  the  military. 
While  the  office  force  was  in  the  bull  pen  Mrs.  Kmina  F.  Lang- 
don.  wife  of  one  of  the  linotype  operators,  went  to  the  office  and 
got  out  the  paper,  "somewhat  disfigured,  but  still  in  the  ring." 
and  it  did  not  miss  an  issue. 

About  the  middle  of  last  November,  things  were  getting  quiet 
in  Cripple  Creek.  This  would  never  do.  Unless  there  was 
"something  doing,"  the  deputies,  detectives,  militia  and  the 
hangers-on  of  the  armed  camp  would  be  out  of  jobs. 

The  Loosened  Rail. 

So,  on  the  night  of  Nov.  16,  '03,  the  spikes  were  withdrawn 
from  a  rail  at  a  curve  on  the  Florence  <&  Cripple  Creek  Railroad. 
At  3  a.  m.  a  train  known  as  the  suburban,  carrying  about  forty 
union  and  non-union  miners  came  along.  But  the  engineer,  Wil- 
liam Rush,  had  received  a  "tip"  that  all  was  not  right,  and  for 
that  reason  he  stopped  his  train  when  he  reached  the  curve,  and 
investigated.  He  found  the  spikes  withdrawn  from  the  rail, 
as  he  had  been  told  that  he  would. 

The  matter  was  reported  to  the  military,  and  they  at  once  be- 
gan  to  make  arrests,  of  course  charging  the  union  men  with  re- 
sponsibility for  the  act. 

Every  Union  Man  Acquitted. 

Sherman  Parker,  W.  F.  Davis  and  Thomas  Foster  and  other 
union  men  were  arrested  by  the  military  and  held  for  the 
crime.  The  trial  of  the  three  named  began  before  Judge  Lewii 
on  Feb.  19,  '04.  With  what  result?  They  were  all  acquitted. 

What  else? 

It  transpired  on  the  trial  that  the  spikes  were  pulled  by  one 
Charles  McKinney,  aided  by  a  man  going  under  the  name  of 
Charles  Beckman,  who  on  the  stand  declared  that  he  was  in  the 
«  niploy  of  the  corporations,  that  he  was  working  for  a  detective 
agency,  that  he  was  a  paid  spy  and  bad  joined  the  union  for 
the  purpose  of  spying  upon  these  men.  that  he  had  been  instru- 
mental in  getting  McKinney  to  do  the  work,  that  he  had  pre- 
arranged with  other  detectives  in  the  employ  of  the  corporations 
that  they  might  watch  the  work  done,  and  after  all  this  the  mine 
owners  and  the  military  authorities  arrested  union  men  for  the 
crime,  tried  their  best  to  fasten  the  infamous  act  upon  the  West- 
ern Federation  of  Miners— and  failed.  The  testimony  of  the 
detectives  Convicted  themselves  of  the  crime  they  sought  to  plao 
upon  the  union. 


10 

The  testimony  of  many  unimpeachable  witnesses  proved  an 
absolute  alibi  for  the  union  men.  The  testimony  of  the  engi- 
neer of  the  train  which  had.  been  in  danger  of  wreck  showed  that 
a  detective  had  inquired  of  him  if  loosening  the  rails  at  a  cer- 
tain place  would  wreck  the  train,  and  it  was  at  that  point  that 
the  spikes  had  been  withdrawn. 

The  mine  owners  have  persistently  denounced  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners  as  a  lawless  organization.  In  order  to 
make  their  lies  look  like  truth  they  have  had  crime  committed 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  hoping  to  blast  the  good  name  of  the 
union.  This  case  was  only  one  of  many. 

Jockeying  with  the  Courts. 

Regarding  the  trial  of  men  for  the  perpetration  of  these  crimes, 
Attorney-General  Miller  declared: 

"The  Governor  and  his  attorneys  will  try  to  prevent 
an  immediate  hearing  of  the  cases,  as  they  say,  to  per- 
mit the  people  to  become  composed.     Their  hope  lies  in 
the  fact  that  Judge  Seeds  will  leave  the  district  Jan.  1, 
giving  up  his  seat  temporarily  to  Judge  Lewis." 
Judge    Lewis    tried   the   derailment    cases.     EVERY     UNION 
MAN  WAS  ACQUITTED. 

This  case  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  another.  During  the 
strike  at  Idaho  Springs  there  was  an  explosion  at  the  Sun  and 
Moon  mine,  and  one  man  (a  union  miner)  was  killed.  Immedi- 
ately the  mine  owners  and  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance 
charged  the  crime  upon  the  strikers,  many  of  them  were  arrested 
and  a  number  deported.  The  authorities  declared  that  the  union 
strikers  arrested  and  charged  with  this  crime  should  not  be 
tried  by  Judge  Owens,  as  they  feared  he  favored  the  union. 
They  wanted  the  cases  tried  by  Judge  De  France.  The  cases 
were  tried  by  Judge  De  France.  The  prosecution  spent  weeks 
introducing  testimony  to  convict  the  fourteen  union  men  on  trial 
of  a  conspiracy  to  blow  up  the  Sun  and  Moon  mine.  After  tbe 
prosecution  rested,  the  defense  went  to  the  jury  WITHOUT 
CALLING  A  SINGLE  WITNESS.  The  jury  was  composed 
largely  of  impartial  ranchmen,  and  they  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
NOT  GUILTY!  Then  the  same  authorities  who  had  strained 
every  nerve  to  oonvlct  union  men  of  a  crime  of  which  they 
were  not  guilty  got  up  in  Judge  De  France's  court  and  nolle 
pressed  the  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  who  Avere  under 
indictment  for  driving  strikers  out  of  town,  and  of  whose  guilt 
there  was  no  shadow  of  doubt. 

Two  days  after  the  pulling  of  the  spikes  on  the  Florence  & 
Cripple  Creek  Railroad,  an  explosioa  occurred  in  the  Vindicator 


ir 

mine  by  which  two  men  lost  /,!>  u  lives.  Like  e\erythiii^,  else 
which  occurred  in  the  district,  it  was  laid  to  the  union  men.  and 
many  of  them  were  again  placed  in  the  bull  pen.  but  at  the  con 
elusion  of  the  trial  of  the  derailment  cases,  the  charges  again-i 
the  union  men  arrested  in  connection  with  the  Vindicator  mine 
(xplosion  were  nolle  prossod  in  Judge  Lewis'  court.  There  •"•<• 
many  reasons  ind  much  evidence  to  h-ad  to  the  belief  thai  if 
the  truth  of  the  matter  is  ever  known  the  instigators  of  the  crime, 
will  be  proven  to  be  members  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association 
or  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance. 

"Organizations  Controlled  by  Desperate  Men." 

Before  these  trials  Governor  Peabody  declared  martial  law  in 
the  Cripple  Creek  district.  In  his  proclamation  he  speaks  of 
the  presence  in  Teller  County  of 

"one  or  more  organizations  controlled  by  desperate  men. 
who  a)-e  intimidating  the  civil  authorities,  and  who  art- 
setting  at  detiance  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State  of  Colorado,  and  that  the  citizens  of  said  County 
of  Teller  by  reason  of  the  threats,  intimidations  and 
crimes  committed  by  said  lawless  persons  in  said  county 
of  Teller  are  unable  to  enjoy  their  civil  rights." 

The  Governor  was  right.  There  were  "one  or  more  organiza- 
tions controlled  by  desperate  men,''  who  were  "intimidating  the 
civil  authorities."  The  very  worst  of  these  organizations  was 
the  militia,  and  the  most  desperate  man  in  control  of  it  was  the- 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Colorado.  There  were  other  lawless 
bodies— the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and  the  Citizens'  Alliaii' 
but  the  Governor  himself  and  his  agents  have  been  engaged  in 
"setting  at  detiance  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  or 
Colorado."  and  he  'has  never  yet  proceeded  against  the  real  law- 
breakers for  the  reason  that  he  is  himself  the  greatest  law- 
breaker. 

The  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  through  its  Secretary  and 
Executive  Hoard,  appealed  to  the  President  of  the  rnite.t 
States  for  help,  but  it  needless  to  record  that  they  received  no 
assistance  from  that  able  exponent  of  the  "open  shop."  Hut  tue 
President  sent  Major-General  John  C.  Hates  to  Colorado  to  inves- 
tigate. While  in  Colorado  the  Major-General  was  the  guest  of 
the  Mine  Owners'  Association.  Knou^h  said  of  him  and  his  re 
port. 

"To  hell  with  the  constitution:  we  are  going  by  the  Governor'- 
orders!"  said  Major  McClelland,  acting  judge  advocate  and  coun- 
sel for  the  mil'larv  authorities. 

C.  G.  Kennison  was  arrested  and  bull-penned  time  and  ag:uu  on 


12 

(me  occasion  tho  military,  headed  by  a  notorious  ex-convict,  in- 
terrupting the  funeral  services  over  a  dead  union  miner  to  take 
Kennison  away. 

After  the  funeral  of  a  union  miner  the  military  went  to  tho 
house  of  his  widow  and  threatened  to  take  from  her  her  two 
children,  of  7  and  10  years. 

Five  boys  from  9  to  14  years  of  age  were  arrested  by  the  mili- 
tary and  taken  to  Camp  Goldfield. 

The  safe  of  Miners'  Union,  No.  32,  was  unlocked  and  robbed, 
11  nd  other  than  the  secretary  the  only  man  who  had  the  com- 
bination was  an  officer  of  the  National  Guard  of  Colorado. 

Sherman  Parker  and  other  union  men  were  arrested  and  re- 
arrested  too  many  times  to  keep  count. 

Women  Under  the  Ban. 

The  military  protectors  of  "law  and  order"  dragged  a  woman 
from  her  house,  tore  portions  of  her  clothing  from  her  body,  and 
with  brute  force,  oaths  and  villiiication  forced  her  to  walk  the 
roads  between  towns  because  she  had  incurred  their  displeasure 
by  resenting  their  intrusion  into  the  sanctuary  of  her  home. 

The  men  back  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  the  various 
Citizens'  Alliances,  the  Governor  of  Colorado,  and  the  rich  and 
great  and  powerful  are  always  talking  whenever  a  strike  takes 
place  about  the  safety  of  life  and  limb.  And  yet  every  day,  in 
the  regular  course  of  industry,  they  constantly  jeopardize  the 
lives  of  their  employes,  in  order  to  save  the  money  required  for 
safety  appliances,  and  refuse  to  abide  by  the  law  of  the  land 
whenever  profits  are  involved,  not  only  in  the  netalliferous  mining 
industry,  but  in  coal  mining  as  well. 

The  military  was  after  the  "agitators"  and  the  press.  The 
right  to  speak  and  print  was  interfered  with  from  the  day  the 
troops  arrived  in  the  district. 

Section  10  of  Article  2  of  Colorado's  Constitution  says:  "No 
law  shall  be  passed  impairing  the  freedom  of  speech";  that  every 
person  shall  be  free  to  speak,  write  or  publish  whatever  he  will 
on  "any  subject." 

Regarding  the  suspension  of  the  press  the  following  temperate 
(under  the  circumstances)  statement  by  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Miners'  District  Union  should  commend  itself  to  all  rea 
soning  and  fair-minded  men: 

"Did  it  ever  occur  to  the  military  gentlemen  that  they 
took  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  State,  and 
that  when  they  issue  such  orders  as  the  one  on  Saturday 
they  are  violating  their  oaths?  The  fact,  is  that  the 
American  people  pay  too  little  attention  to  such  matters. 


13 

No  man  who  has  so  little  regard  for  his  oath  of  office 
should  be  permitted     to  hold     office  for  u  single     day. 
Contempt  for  all  law  follows  a  deliberate  disregard  for 
law  on  the  part    of  those    charged  with  its    execution. 
It  is  our  humble  opinion  that  the  greatest  disregard  and 
violation  of  the  law  shown  in  Teller  Co.  is  that  due  to 
the  militia.     They  have  trampled  upon  the  liberties  of 
the     people.     They  have     been  guilty  of     unreasonable 
searches  and  siezures.     They  have  interfered  with  free- 
dom   of    speech.     They    have   arrested   persons    without 
warrant  of  law,  and  imprisoned  they  without  bail." 
Dec.  22  Major  H.  A.  Naylor,  in  command  of  the  Cripple  Creek 
district  during  the  absence  of  Col.   Verdeckberg,   made  a  state- 
ment that,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  idle  men  throughout 
the  district,  an  order  would  be  made  that  all  those  having  no 
employment    or    visible    means    of    support    would    be     given 
the  alternative  of  one  of  three  things — either  to  go  to  work,  leave 
the  district,  or  go  to  the  bull  pen  for  an  indefinite  term. 

Intoxicated  soldiers  created  rough  house  in  a  hotel  because  a 
bartender  refused  to  give  them  drinks  on  account  of  the  military 
regulations  prohibiting  the  sale  of  drinks  to  soldiers. 

Scab  or  Be  Shot. 

In  the  early  period  of  the  strike  numbers  of  strike-breakers 
were  brought  to  Cripple  Creek  who  had  been  secured  in  Michi- 
gan and  other  states  east  of  Colorado  on  a  pretense  by  the  agent 
of  the  operators  that  there  was  no  trouble.  In  some  cases  en- 
tire squads  of  them  refused  to  work  on  learning  the  true  condi- 
tion of  affairs.  In  some  cases  these  men  had  to  escape  from 
the  mines  as  from  a  prison,  and  in  one  case  a  man  who  broke 
from  a  group  that  was  being  escorted  to  the  mines  by  a  militia 
company  was  shot  at  by  the  officer  in  command,  but  made  good 
his  escape. 

Perhaps  no  statement  has  been  issued  which  in  general  terms 
so  temperately  and  yet  so  correctly  and  adequately  describes  the 
situation  in  Colorado  as  the  following  resolutions  adopted  at  the 
largest  public  meeting  ever  held  in  Denver  in  the  early  part  of 
January  of  this  year.  They  follow  in  part: 

"Prudence   indeed   will    dictate   that   government   long    estal* 
lished  shall  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes,  ami 
accordingly    all    experience   has   shown   that   mankind   are   more 
disposed  to  suffer  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  them- 
seives  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 

"But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing 
invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them 
under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to 


14 

throw  off  such  a  g-overiiment  and  to  provide  new  guards   for 
their  future  security. 

"Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  the  people  of  this 
state,  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to 
denounce  the  tyranny  and  usurpations  of  the  officials  now  con- 
trolling the  machinery  of  their  government,  and  using  it  for  pur- 
poses of  private  gain  and  to  promote  certain  business  interests 
at  the  expense  of  our  liberties. 

"The  history  of  the  present  governor  of  Colorado  is  a  history 
of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  obect 
ihe  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  throughout  this  state 
of  certain  classes  over  others.     To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  sub 
niitted  to  a  candid  world. 

"He  has  refused  to  call  together  the  Legislature  of  the  state, 
that  it  might  have  the  opportunity  to  pass  laws  calculated  to  re- 
store peace  and  quiet  to  the  state,  and  to  settle  the  various  con- 
troversies now  going  on  between  large  bodies  of  our  citizens, 
banded  together  in  different  organizations,  unions,  alliances  and 
associations,  and  has  exposed  the  state  to  all  the  dangers  which 
may  arise  from  the  warrings  of  conflicting  industrial  interests 
and  the  convulsions  caused  by  them. 

"He  has  constantly  and  almost  daily  violated  the  constitution 
of  the  state  of  Colorado  and  of  the  United  States,  although  hav- 
ing taken  the  oath  to  support  them. 

"He  has,  in  time  of  peace,  and  without  justification  in  law 
or  fact,  or  appeal  for  help  from  the  civil  authorities  of  the  coun- 
ties affected,  ordered  the  militia  of  the  state  to  invade  certain 
counties,  and  has  there  set  aside  the  duly  constituted  civil  author- 
ities by  force  of  arms,  and  has  done  this  at  a  time  when  the 
courts  were  open  and  their  process  was  unresisted. 

"He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice  and  defied 
our  courts  by  ordering  the  militia  of  the  state  to  disobey  the 
writs  of  the  courts  of  the  state. 

"He  has  pretended  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

"He  has  kept  armies  among  us  in  times  of  peace,  without  the 
consent  of  our  Legislature. 

"He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of  and 
superior  to  the  civil  power. 

"He  has  combined  with  others  in  furtherance  of  the  spirit  of 
greed,  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitution 
and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws,  giving  his  aid  and  support 
and  using  the  power  of  the  state  to  aid  certain  people  combined 
under  the  form  of  unions  or  alliances,  to  obtain  advantage  over 
others  combined  in  like  manner,  and  in  so  doing 

"He  has  imposed  taxes  upon  us  without  our  consent. 

"He  has  deprived  us  in  many  cases  of  the  trial  by  jury. 


15 

"He  has  taken  away  our  charters,  abolished  our  most  valuable 
laws,  and  altered  fundamentally  the  forms  of  our  government. 

"He  has,  in  defiance  of  Article  XIII.  of  the  amendments  to 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  says: 

"Neither   slavery    nor    involuntary   servitude   except   as   a 
punishment    for   crime    whereof   the   party    shall    have   been 
duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States," 
compelled  the  militia  to  force  men  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  to 
work  in  the  mines  at  pumps  and  elsewhere,  without  their  con- 
sent. 

"He  has  further,  in  defiance  of  his  oath  and  of  Article  I.  of  the 
amendments  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  pro- 
vides that 

"Congress  shall  make  no  laws  abridging  the  freedom  of 
speech  or  of  the  press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  to  peace- 
fully assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government," 
attempted  to  muzzle  the  press  of  the  state,  and  to  establish  a 
censorship  over  the  same. 

"He  has,  in  defiance  of  Article  IV.  of  the  amendments  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  says: 

That  "The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  effects  against  unreasonable  searches  and 
seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and  that  no  warrant  shall 
issue,  but  upon  probable  cause  supported  by  oath  or  affirma- 
tion, and  particularly  describing  the  places  to  be  searched, 
and  the  person  and  thing  to  be  seized," 

allowed  the  militia,  under  his  orders,  to  violate  the  liberty  of 
persons,  to  search  houses  and  to  seize  papers  and  effects,  without 
warrant  and  in  direct  violation  of  all  law. 

"That  he  has.  in  defiance  of  Article  II.  of  the  amendments  to 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  says: 

"That  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall 
not  be  infringed/' 

allowed  the  militia,  acting  under  his  orders,  to  search  for  and 
take  arms  from  their  rightful  owners,  and  to  confiscate  the  same 
wherever  found,  and  has  permitted  the  militia,  in  violation  of 
said  article,  to  issue  proclamations  demanding  the  surrender  of 
all  arms  and  their  registration,  and  has  further  allowed  said 
militia,  while  enforcing  his  orders,  to  invade  the  private  premises 
of  citizens,  and  notably,  those  of  one  John  M.  Glover,  for  refusal 
to  comply  with  illegal  proclamations,  and  for  asserting  his  con- 
stitutional and  legal  rights. 

"That  each  and  all  of  these  acts  are  calculated  to  excite  do- 
mestic insurrection  among  us.  and  to  bring  on  a  conflict  among 
people  engaged  in  divers  industrial  affairs. 

"A  governor   whose   character  is   thus   marked  by   every   act 


16 

which  may  define  a  tyrant  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  peo- 
ple. 

"We  have  warned  him  from  time  to  time  of  his  attempts  to 
extend  an  unwarranted  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  appealed 
to  any  sense  of  .justice  and  magnanimity  he  may  be  supposed  to 
possess,  and  we  have  begged  him  by  the  ties  of  our  common 
kindred  to  discontinue  these  usurpations  which  will  inevitably 
lead  to  further  discord  and  must  continue  disastrously  to  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  the  state.  These  appeals  he  has  treated  with 
contempt. 

"It  is,  therefore,  resolved,  that  the  time  having  arrived  when, 
in  consequence  of  the  usurpations  and  tyrannies  above  set  forth, 
the  courts  of  the  state  are  rendered  powerless  by  an  organized 
mob,  pretending  to  act  as  the  militia  of  the  state,  to  redress  our 
grievances,  it  is  now  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  exercise  the 
right  of  self-defense  in  protection  of  the  rights  guaranteed  him 
under  our  constitution  and  laws,  and  at  any  and  all  cost,  to  pro- 
tect himself  and  his  property  from  arrest,  seizure  or  search  by 
any  persons  not  armed  and  authorized  by  warrant  issued  by 
civil  authority. 

"It  is  further  resolved,  that  for  repeated  violation  of  his  official 
oath,  as  governor  of  this  state,  and  for  the  many  usurpations  antf 
tyrannies  above  set  forth,  we  demand  the  impeachment  of  James 
II.  Peabody. 

"It  is  further  resolved,  that  we  demand  that  the  district  at- 
torney of  Teller  county  at  once  institute  criminal  proceedings 
against  said  Peabody  and  the  mob  acting  under  his  orders,  for 
assault  with  attempt  to  kill  John  M.  Glover  on  the  28th  day  of 
December,  1903,  nnd  that  the  proper  authorities  also  institute 
criminal  proceedings  against  said  Peabody  and  others  responsi- 
ble for  the  numerous  crimes  of  false  imprisonment,  larceny, 
riot,  etc.,  recently  committed  by  organized  mobs  in  Teller,  San 
Miguel  snd  other  counties,  to  the  end  that  the  offenders  may  be 
punished,  when  law  and  order  once  more  prevails,  and  the  courts 
and  civil  authorities  are  no  longer  prevented  by  mobs  from  the 
exercise  of  their  functions. 

"Be  it  further  resolved,  that  the  surrender  by  the  militia  of 
Victor  Poole  to  the  civil  authorities  of  Teller  county,  at  the  time 
when  the  right  of  the  militia  to  hold  him  and  to  defy  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  pending  before  the  Supreme  Court,  is  and 
was  an  acknowledgment  by  the  governor  of  the  state  that  he 
and  the  militia  under  his  orders  had  wilfully  and  knowingly  vio- 
lated the  constitution  and  laws  *of  the  state  in  arresting  said 
Poole  and  imprisoning  him  without  charge  or  warrant. 

"We  further  regard  the  release  of  said  Poole  and  his  sur- 
render to  the  civil  authorities  as  a  pitiful  and  cowardly  attempt 


17 

on  the  part  of  the  governor  to  evade  the  consequences  of  his 
crime,  and  to  prevent  being  branded  by  the  highest  court  of  the 
state  as  a  law  breaker. 

"Be  it  further  resolved,  that  we  demand  that  the  illegal  ex- 
pense incurred  by  reason  of  the  acts  of  the  governor  in  defying 
the  courts  and  civil  authorities,  shall  be  borne  by  those  who,  as 
the  beneficiaries  of  those  acts,  have  advanced  the  money  and 
profited  by  its  expenditure. 

"Resolved  further,  that  we  insist  upon  the  rigid  maintenance 
of  our  constitutional  safe  guards,  and  point  out  that  to  break 
them  down  by  force  under  any  pretext,  is  treason  of  the  highest 
kind  which  leads  to  anarchy  and  the  sure  rule  of  that  force  whose 
first  victims  will  be  those  Pharisees  now  crying  for  that  law  and 
order  of  which  they  are  the  sole  violators." 

• 
Explosion  at  Independence  Station. 

At  2:1"»  Monday  morning,  June  (>,  the  depot  at  Independence  in 
the  Cripple  Creek  district  was  blown  up  by  an  explosion  of  giant 
powder.  The  explosion  took  place  at  a  time  when  the  station 
contained  a  large  number  of  miners,  mostly  non-union,  just  from 
the  hill  to  take  the  train  to  their  homes. 

Fourteen  were  killed  and  a  number  injured. 

Instantly  the  entire  district  was  in  the  greatest  excitement. 

Members  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and  of  the  Citizens' 
Alliance  immediately  took  charge  of  everything.  The  military 
were  at  once  called  for. 

One  of  the  first  things  done  was  to  shut  down  all  of  the  non- 
union mines,  and  to  order  the  men  to  come  into  town,  bringing 
with  them  their  arms. 

Rope's-End  Resignations. 

Sheriff  Robertson,  who  had  been  duly  elected  to  his  office  by 
a  majority  of  votes,  was  taken  before  the  joint  committee  of  the 
Citizens'  Alliance  and  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  and  ask^d 
to  resign. 

He  refused. 

Surrounded  by  armed  men,  his  resignation  was  thrust  in 
front  of  him,  a  coil  of  rope  with  a  hangman's  noose  in  the  end 
was  thrown  at  his  feet,  and  again  he  was  asked  to  resign. 

He  complied. 

The  resignation  of  Coroner  Doran  was  brought  about  in  the 
same  way.  The  conspirators  did  well  to  remove  the  Coroner.  I  It- 
would  have  found  out  the  persons  who  were  guilty  of  the  crime, 
and  that  would  have  been  a  life  aud  death  matter  for  some  of 


18 

the  employees  or  members  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and 
the  Citizens'  Alliance. 

In  addition  to  the  resignations  of  the  Coroner  and  Sheriff,  the 
military,  mine  owners  and  Citizens'  Alliance  also  forced  the 
resignation  from  their  offices  of  Assistant  Prosecuting  Attorney 
Cole,  City  Marshal  Graham  (of  Cripple  Creek),  City  Marshal 
O'Connell  (of  Victor),  and  in  Goldfield  Marshal  Brother,  Night 
Marshal  McCarthy  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  Reilly  were  deposed 
from  their  offices,  together  with  all  the  aldermen  in  Indepen- 
dence, and  a  fire  chief  and  a  county  commissioner. 

Meetings  of  excited  citizens  were  held,  and  at  one  of  these  in 
the  open  air  C.  C.  Hamlin,  secretary  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Asso- 
ciation did  his  best  to  make  his  remarks  as  inflammatory  as 
possible,  and  declared  that  the  explosion  was  caused  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  At  one  point  in  his 
'address  he  said  he  would  like  to  know  what  the  "boys  from  the 
bills"  thought  of  the  matter,  and  a  union  miner  spoke  up  and 
said  "let  me  talk." 

No  sooner  had  he  spoken  than  shooting  began,  and  two  men 
were  killed  and  several  injured.  All  the  firing  was  attributed 
to  the  union  men,  but  Hamlin  kept  on  talking  and  was  unin- 
jured. 

A  raid  was  at  once  started  on  the  hall  of  the  union  miners. 
Many  shots  were  fired  at  them.  Several  were  wounded.  The 
papers  declared  that  the  miners  were  armed  and  made  a  desper- 
ate resistance,  but  not  a  man  in  the  attacking  party  received  a 
scratch. 

The  men  in  the  hall  were  taken  to  the  bull  pen.  The  hall  was 
searched.  The  records  of  the  union  were  appropriated. 

Deportations  of  union  men  were  at  once  begun.  Each  day 
saw  the  departure  of  tens  and  scores. 

Some  were  taken  to  Denver,  some  to  Kansas,  some  to  New 
Mexico, 

General  Bell  and  the  Constitution. 

General  Bell,  sworn  to  obey  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
Colorado  and  of  the  United  States,  publicly  declared: 

"These  men  were  deported  to  the  Kansas-Colorado  line,  and 
more  will  follow  to-morrow,  to  which  no  apologies  are  made  to 
any  one.  Should  they  return,  they  will  be  immediately  placed 
in  a  military  prison,  and  there  remain  indefinitely." 

To  be  a  union  man  was  crime.  It  was  no  protection  to  be  a 
husband  or  a  father.  Men  were  taken  from  their  families,  hus- 
bands torn  from  Avives  who  were  critically  ill,  and  from  chil- 
dren who  had  no  other  protector,  at  the  instance  of  civil  and 


19 

military  authorities,  acting  at  the  institution  of  men  who  had 
no  other  charge  to  prefer  against  them  than  their  suspicion 
that  they  should  be  suspected. 

Nearly  every  man  arrested  was  subjected  to  awful  "sweating" 
by  the  detectives  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  and  such  weiv. 
the  means  employed  that  several  of  them  lost  their  reason,  and 
others  were  confined  to  hospitals  on  account  of  their  injuries.  A 
favorite  method  was  to  hang  them  up  by  the  thumbs  until  their 
Censes  left  them. 

The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  had  four  cooperative  stores 
in  the  Cripple  Creek  district.  All  were  sacked  and  closed  and 
contents  destroyed  or  stolen. 

To  understand  the  animosity  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  one  has 
only  to  know  that  the  four  co-operative  stores  which  were 
sacked  and  gutted  by  the  mob  of  "respectable  gentlemen"  com- 
prising that  body  were  a  thorn  in  their  side.  The  Western 
Federation  was  practically  forced  to  start  these  stores  to  supply 
its  members  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  sold  goods  at 
close  to  cost  price,  did  a  large  trade,  and  every  member  of  the 
Citizens'  Alliance  felt  that  every  dollar  spent  in  a  co-operative 
store  was  a  dollar  taken  out  of  his  own  pocket.  Whenever  there 
was  so  much  as  a  rumor  of  a  settlement  between  any  of  the 
mine  owners  and  the  strikers,  something  was  sure  to  happen  in 
the  district.  The  Citizens'  Alliance  would  brook  no  settlement  of 
the  troubles  between  the  strikers  and  any  minemanagers  that 
did  not  have  for  its  basis  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  West- 
ern Federation  of  Miners  to  discontinue  its  co-operative  supply 
stores.  When  a  settlement  was  being  considered  between  sev- 
eral of  the  operators  and  the  strikers  last  November  the  Vindi- 
cator explosion  took  place,  and  on  Friday,  June  3.  of  this  year 
a  committee  from  the  national  convention  of  the  Federation  con- 
ferred with  several  mine  managers  regarding  the  differences 
hotween  them  and  their  former  employees,  and  on  the  following 
Monday  the  Independence  explosion  took  place. 

The  military  authorities  confiscated  the  horses  and  wagons  be- 
longing to  the  miners'  co-operative  stores  and  used  them  as 
police  patrol  wagons  to  haul  members  of  the  union  to  the  bull 
pen  and  the  sweat  box. 

In  many  instances  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  refused 
to  sell  the  necessaries  of  life  to  the  families  of  deported  men.  and 
the  military  authorities  ordered  the  agent  of  the  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners  who  had  been  distributing  relief  to  the  wives, 
mothers  and  children  of  the  exiles  to  discontinue  his  work,  re- 
quiring all  supplies  to  pass  through  military  channels. 


20 

John  Carley  Killed. 

On  the  8th  of  June  General  Bell  took  a  military  force  to  Dunne- 
ville,  17  miles  south  of  Victor,  and  in  another,  county  where 
martial  law  had  not  been  proclaimed,  and  attacked  a  body  of 
union  miners  engaged  near  there  in  working  a  new  mine. 

The  union  men  were  unarmed,  but  the  troops  fired  some  hun- 
dreds of  shots,  one  of  which  struck  and  killed  John  Carley. 

When  shot  down  he  was  running  from  one  rock  to  another 
tor  shelter,  trying  to  make  his  escape.  He  was  a  union  man. 

Again  a  battle,  and  again  not  a  soldier  got  a  scratch,  though 
the  papers  were  full  of  reports  to  the  effect  that  the  union  men 
had  made  a  desperate  and  formidable  resistance. 

Office  of  the  Victor  Record  Wrecked. 

The  office  of  the  Victor  Record,  which  had  been  friendly  to 
the  strikers,  was  visited  by  eight  men  and  its  plant  and  ma- 
chinery totally  wrecked.  The  force  of  this  same  office  had  been 
in  the  bull  pen  on  a  previous  occasion. 

Throughout  the  present  strike  troubles  in  Colorado  the 
Great  Portland  mine  had  continued  in  operation.  Its  force  of 
men  was  part  union  and  part  non-union. 

When  the  military  had  taken  charge  of  affairs  after  the  ex- 
plosion of  the  Independence  station  one  of  General  Bell's  first 
sicts  was  to  force  Mr.  Burns,  the  manager  of  the  Portland,  to 
close  down  his  mine,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  employed, 
some  union  men.  The  employers  declare  that  they  want  the 
•'open  shop."  Mr.  Burns  was  running  an  "open  shop."  The 
Mine  Owners'  Association  insisted  that  he  should  not  run  an 
"open  shop,"  that  he  must  run  a  shop  closed  to  union  men,  or 
not  run  at  all,  and  they  enforced  their  edict  backed  by  the 
bayonets  of  the  State,  under  the  orders  of  a  man  whose  master 
has  repeatedly  declared  that  he  was  using  the  troops  to  main- 
tain the  right  of  every  man  to  work.  Mr.  Burns  brought  suit 
against  the  Governor  of  Colorado  for  damages  for  the  illegal 
action  of  the  militia  in  closing  the  Great  Portland,  but  the  direc- 
tors of  the  company,  preferring  treason  to  patriotism,  ordered  its 
discontinuance. 

Members  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and  of  the  Citizens' 
Alliance  sent  committees  to  the  owners  of  all  stores,  shops  and 
works  and  demanded  that  they  sign  an  agreement  to  refuse  em- 
ployment to  all  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners 
and  the  American  Labor  Union.  They  at  first  included  members 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  those  who  came  under 
the  ban,  but  later  made  an  exception  of  men  belonging  to  that 
body. 


21 

TRINIDAD. 

The  Strike  in  the  Coal  Field. 

While  the  events  narrated  in  preceding  chapters  were  trans- 
piring in  the  metalliferous  mining  industry  in  Colorado  City. 
Cripple  Creek,  and  other  gold  fields  of  the  State,  similar  crinn  s 
for  similar  causes  were  being  committed  by  the  armed  agents  of 
the  corporations  and  the  armed  authorities  of  the  State  in  tne 
coal  fields  of  Southern  Colorado  in  and  around  Trinidad. 

The  trouble  with  the  Coal  miners  of  District  15,  United  M.u  • 
Workers  of  America  (which  covers  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Colo- 
rado) dates  from  August,  1900,  at  which  time  the  workers  of  that 
vicinity  began  their  efforts  to  organize.  In  Southern  Colorado 
where  the  Coal  Companies  had  practiced  oppressions  beyond  the 
power  of  pen  to  describe,  the  first  local  was  organized  on  Aug. 
nth.  1900,  at  Pictou,  Colo.  National  Organizer  Jas.  Kennedy 
went  to  Pryor,  Colo.,  to  organize  a  local,  and  he  was  holding  ;; 
meeting  of  about  40  men  when  the  Sheriff  of  Huerfano  County 
and  two  deputies  came  upon  the  ground,  lined  up  the  crowd  and 
arrested  Kennedy  and  two  of  the  men  and  threw  them  into  the 
county  jail.  They  were  released  later,  but  the  authorities  made 
no  effort  to  prosecute  the  sheriff  for  his  unlawful  act. 

John  L.  Gehr,  then  District  President,  organized  locals 
throughout  the  southern  part  of  the  state  to  the  number  of  about 
fifteen  during  the  spring,  but  the  companies  discriminated 
against  union  men,  and,  that  failing  to  break  up  the  organiza- 
tion, closed  their  mines. 

Organizing  Unions  Dangerous  Work. 

In  the  Spring  of  1902  Ralph  Prukop,  then  District  President, 
was  run  out  of  Hastings,  by  D.  M.  Simpson,  general  manager 
for  the  Victor  Fuel  Company,  aided  by  mine  guards.  Several 
attempts  were  made  by  Fmkop  and  John  Simpson,  secretary  of 
District  15.  U.  M.  W.  of  A.,  to  organize  Hastings,  but  they  were 
always  met  by  the  deputies  of  the  coal  company,  and  many  of 
the  men  were  fired  out  of  camp  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
they  attended  open-air  meetings  held  for  the  purpose  of  explain- 
ing to  the  men  the  purposes  of  organization. 

In  the  Summer  of  1903  Italian  National  Organizer  Chas.  1  >e 
Molli  was  run  out  of  Primero.  Colo.,  for  organizing  the  men. 

In  August  of  the  same  year  John  Simpson.  Jas.  Kennedy  and  R. 
M.  Smith  marched  through  Rouse  with  a  body  of  men.  200  in 
number,  and  held  an  open  meeting  at  Pryor.  Seventy-rive  depu- 
ties had  been  gathered  there  by  the  Companies  to  break  up  the 


22 

meeting,  but  failed  in  their  object.  Next  morning,  however, 
seventy  men  who  had  attended  the  meeting  were  discharged 
by  the  company. 

From  Aug.  1st,  1900,  to  Nov.  9th,  1903,  over  9.000  men  had  been 
enrolled  in  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  in  Las  Animas 
and  Huerfano  Counties,  Colo.,  but  on  Nov.  9th  less  than  2,000  re- 
mained in  the  organization.  Over  7,000  had  been  discharged 
and  put  on  the  black  list. 

Join  the  Union,  Lose  Your  Job. 

The  companies  have  always  declared  that  their  men  did  not 
want  to  join  the  union,  but  thousands  were  deprived  of  their  em- 
ployment during  the  summer  of  1903  merely  on  the  suspicion  of 
being  union  men.  After  standing  this  torment  for  three  years 
every  effort  was  put  forth  by  the  men  to  settle  their  troubles 
with  the  coal  companies  by  agreement.  On  August  14,  1903,  the 
men  issued  a  statement  of  their  grievances,  which  was  sent  to 
the  coal  companies,  to  the  public  and  the  Governor  of  the  state, 
setting  forth  the  many  causes  of  dissatisfaction,  and  asking 
tor  a  conference  with  the  corporations  to  avert  a  strike. 

In  September,  1903,  the  miners  held  a  convention  in  Pueblo, 
at  which  a  scale  of  prices  for  work  in  the  southern  coal  field  of 
Colorado  was  drawn  .up,  together  with  a  statement  of  wrongs 
for  which  they  demanded  redress,  and  a  copy  of  the  same  was 
sent  to  the  employers. 

The  mesi  asked  for  an  increase  of  wages,  that  wages  be  paid 
semi-monthly,  and  in  money  instead  of  script  on  the  company 
store,  honest  weight  of  coal  mined,  the  eight-hour  day  as  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  the  ventilation 
of  the  mines  in  accordance  with  the  existing  laws  of  Colorado. 

The  union  repeatedly  asked  for  a  conference  with  the  corpora- 
tions, but  were  at  all  times  ignored  by  them. 

The  National  Organization  interested  itself  in  the  situation  in 
the  district,  and  when  all  efforts  to  meet  the  employers  for  a 
discussion  of  affairs  had  failed  the  call  was  issued  for  the  men 
to  strike  on  Nov.  9th,  1903.  More  than  13,000  men  responded 
to  the  call,  which  was  over  ninety-six  per  cent  of  all  the  em- 
ployees under  the  strike  jurisdiction. 

The  operators  had  used  every  resource,  resorted  to  every 
means,  fair  and  foul,  to  prevent  the  organization  of  the  men. 
Yet  when  the  strike  was  called,  seven  unorganized  men  re- 
sponded for  every  man  who  was  a  member  of  the  union.  They 
had  been  afraid  to  jeopardize  their  employment  by  joining  the 
union,  but  when  the  strike  was  called  they  manfully  stood  ov.t 


23 

with  the  union  men  in  the  hope  of  wresting  some  relief  from 
conditions  which  had  bec-onie  unbearable. 

Before  the  strike  was  called  the  district  had  been  swarmed 
with  deputies  and  thugs  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  the 
miners.  Every  possible  means  was  used  to  break  the  strike  by 
the  companies.  Men  were  offered  as  high  as  $7  a  day,  steady 
work,  and  $100  bonus  to  go  to  work  and  break  the  strike,  but 
they  refused  to  leave  the  ranks  of  the  union.  They  steadily 
declined  to  accept  anything  from  the  company  except  terms  that 
would  be  honorable,  and  looking  to  such  an  adjustment  of  their 
difficulties  as  would  further  the  interests  of  the  entire  body  of 
strikers. 

Failing  to  break  the  strike,  the  operators  started  the  breaking- 
up  system,  called  '"kangarooing,"  by  their  hired  thugs.  Law  was 
cast  aside,  and  the  rule  of  main  force  was  established  by  the 
corporations. 

Evicted  from  Their  Own  Houses. 

In  many  of  the  mining  camps  every  foot  of  ground  except  the 
public  highway  was  the  property  of  the  coal  company.  Some 
men  lived  in  company  houses,  which  they  had  secured  by  leases 
containing  clauses  allowing  the  company  th^  right  to  evict  its 
tenants  within  live  days  after  they  ceased  work  in  the  mine. 
Others,  not  being  able  to  get  houses  from  the  company,  had 
rented  ground  on  which  they  had  erected  their  own  dwellings, 
but  the  company  had  in  such  cases  inserted  in  the  lease  of 
the  ground  the  same  clause,  giving  them  power  to  evict  a  man 
from  the  house  he  owned  and  had  himself  erected  on  live  day*' 
notice.  The  company  owned  the  land,  and  as  soon  as  the  strike 
was  ordered  they  gave  their  tenants  the  five  days'  notice  to 
vacate,  and  at  once  drove  the  men  from  their  homes,  and  in 
order  to  make  sure  that  they  should  not  return  tore  down  their 
houses. 

But  in  particular  cases  which  were  taken  to  the  courts,  and 
where  the  tenants  were  sustained,  the  corporations,  with  their 
armed  forces  of  thugs  and  deputies,  proceeded  with  their  work 
of  destruction  and  eviction  regardless  of  judicial  decisions. 

In  consequence  of  these  wholesale  evictions,  the  union  supplied 
the  strikers  with  tents,  and  many  of  them,  together  with  their 
wives  and  children,  spent  the  entire  winter  in  camps.  But  after 
martial  law  was  declared  the  military  kept  them  on  the  move, 
and  at  intervals  they  were  required  to  break  up  and  pitch  their 
tented  homes  in  new  places. 

Nov.  18th,  1903,  National  Organizers  Win.  Wardjon.  Jas.  Ken- 
nedy, Joe,  Poggiuni  ami  Will.  Campbell  were  arrested  on  the  pub- 


24 

lie  highway  at  Hastings,  Colo.,  and  thrown  into  jail,  and  later 
escorted  out  of  camp.  The  tlnion  at  once  asked  the  courts  for 
an  injunction,  but  after  a  lengthy  trial  Judge  Northcutt  refused 
to  grant  it,  saying  that  the  civil  courts  were  open  for  the  prose- 
cution of  such  cases. 

Draw  Blood  on  a  Mule. 

Dec.  7,  1903,  a  party  of  non-union  men  in  charge  of  William 
Jennings  on  the  highway  near  Berwind,  declared  that  they  had 
been  shot  at  by  would-be  murderers,  though  no  one  was  in- 
jured save  their  team  of  mules. 

Two  Strikers  Killed,  Two  Injured. 

Drawing  blood  from  a  rnule,  however,  was  sufficient  excuse 
for  the  corporations.  They  had  no  evidence  whatever  that 
union  men  were  implicated  in  the  matter,  but  they  at  once  de- 
clared that  union  men  were  guilty,  and  on  that  night  sheriff's 
deputies  in  the  pay  of  the  companies  attacked  a  party  of  strikers, 
killing  two  and  wounding  two. 

On  Dec.  17,  at  New  Castle,  Colo.,  five  houses,  owned  by  John 
Lawson,  Evan  Davis,  Win.  Isaacs,  Wm.  Doyle  and  Thos.  Doyle, 
were  wrecked  by  dynamite.  The  men  were  union  committee- 
men,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  company's 
deputies  were  responsible  for  the  deed. 

Jan.  24,  Wm.  Maher  and  Henry  Mitchell,  local  organizers  of 
the  union,  were  beaten  up  at  Engleville,  Colo.,  by  the  mine 
guards.  Maher  was  injured  so  seriously  that  he  was  confined 
to  the  hospital. 

Jas.  Doneky  a  local  union  man,  was  next  pounded  up  by 
Deputy  Sheriff  McPherson  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Commercial 
Streets,  in  Trinidad.  Doneky's  leg  was  broken  and  he  sustained 
other  injuries. 

The  first  week  in  Feb.,  1904,  Wm.  Wardjon,  National  Organ- 
izer, was  attacked  by  the  deputies  or  detectives  at  the  same  place 
in  Trinidad.  He  was  dragged  off  to  the  jail,  but  no  charge  was 
made,  and  the  sheriff  after  an  investigation  released  him. 

February  14,  1904,  Wm.  Fairley  and  Jas.  Mooney,  national 
organizers  of  the  union,  were  caught  by  seven  men,  believed  to 
be  detectives,  about  a  mile  from  Trinidad  and  beaten  until  they 
could  not  walk.  They  were  disabled  for  several  weeks,  and 
Mooney  was  disfigured  for  life. 

Feb.  24th  a  union  miner  was  killed  in  Dawson,  New  Mex.,  by 
Bud  Phalmer,  deputy  sheriff,  who  claimed  he  committed  the  act 
in  self  defence. 

On  the  same  day   Chris   Evans   was  attacked  on   a   railroad 


25 

train  as  it  was  pulling  out  of  Trinidad  by  three  men  believed  to 
be  deputy  sheriffs,  and  pounded  into  unconsciousness.  He  is 
financial  agent  in  the  strike  field  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A. 

March  1st  District  Organizer  Julian  Gomez  was  beaten  up  by 
a  deputy  sheriff  in  Trinidad.  He  was  laid  up  as  a  result  of 
his  injuries. 

March  14th  an  Italian  striker  was  killed  in  Pryor,  Colo.,  by 
deputy  sheriffs.  He  was  driven  from  his  own  house,  and  killed 
while  running  away  in  the  effort  to  save  his  life. 

March  23rd,  1904,  the  soldiers  came  to  Trinidad,  Colo.,  and 
martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  Las  Animas  County.  Later  the 
houses  of  strikers  in  Las  Animas  County  were  repeatedly 
searched  for  fire-arms  by  the  soldiers*  In  Segundo,  Colo.,  sev- 
eral houses  were  visited  by  the  soldiers  at  midnight,  women 
and  children  were  dragged  from  their  beds  and  taken  out  on  the 
prairie  by  the  militia  in  their  efforts  to  force  them  to  tell  where 
guns  were  bidden.  Men  were  taken  from  their  beds  at  night  and 
threats  made  that  they  would  be  shot  if  they  did  not  tell 
the  location  of  firearms  which  did  not  exist. 

Mar.  2r>th,  A.  Bartoli.  an  Italian  printer  employed  by  District 
15,  was  arrested  by  the  militia.  No  charge. 

March  2(Hh  the  II  Lavoratore  Italiano  was  confiscated  by 
militia  and  publication  stopped  while  martial  law  continued  in 
Trinidad. 

Mother  Jones  Deported. 

On  the  same  date  National  Organizers  Mother  Jones,  Win. 
Wardjon.  Joe.  Poggiani  and  A.  Bartoli.  the  printer,  were  deported 
by  the  militia.  Mother  Jones  was  given  five  minutes  to  pack 
her  belongings  and  get  ready,  after  which  time  she  was  escorts t 
to  the  Santa  Fe  train,  and  deported  with  instructions  not  to  re- 
turn to  Las  Anituas  while  martial  law  was  in  force. 

March  30  John  Faletti,  district  organizer,  was  beaten  up  at 
Glenwood  Springs,  Colo.,  by  men  believed  to  be  Reno  detec- 
tives. He  was  laid  up  for  several  weeks  from  cuts  on  the  head. 

April  1st,  more  midnight  searches  were  made  at  Segundo,  Colo. 
Women  were  again  the  victims. 

April  2nd  Chas.  Demolli  was  arrested  at  Helper,  Utah,  by  the 
deputy  sheriffs  for  "agitating"  among  the  miners.  Demolli  is  a 
national  organizer.  He  was  held  for  several  days,  but  was 
acquitted  by  the  courts. 

April  8th,  1004,  Jas.  D.  Ritchie  and  Robert  Beveridg<>  were 
arrested  at  Brodhead,  Colo.  The  next  day  they  and  several  men 
from  Sopris.  Colo.,  were  deported  to  New  Mexico  with  instruc- 
tions not  to  return. 


26 

April  9th  Chas.  Demolli,  national  organizer,  was  pounded  up 
at  Pueblo  by  men  believed  to  be  part  of  the  Reno  gang.  He  was 
in  a  critical  condition  for  several  days. 

April  19th  more  striking  miners  were  arrested  and  deported. 
Jules  Ragnier,  A.  Ferns,  A.  Anderson  of  Brodhead,  Colo.,  were 
among  the  number.  All  were  reputable  citizens. 

Involuntary  Servitude  for  Freemen. 

April  llth  Pavio  Romero  and  John  Simpson,  the  latter  dis- 
trict secretary,  visited  Segundo,  Colo.  They  were  detained  by 
the  militia  and  later  sent  back  to  Trinidad.  On  the  same  date 
Gian  Bernardi,  a  striking  miner,  was  bayonetted  in  the  leg  by 
militia,  and  forced  to  work  cleaning  the  streets  of  the  town. 
About  300  strikers  were  from  time  to  time  compelled  to  work  by 
the  militia,  though  they  had  neither  been  charged  with  nor  con- 
victed of  crime. 

April  15th  Rugby,  Hastings,  Majestic,  Bowen  and  the  Trinidad 
camps  of  miners  on  strike  were  ordered  moved  by  the  militia. 

April  27,  1904,  fifteen  strikers  were  deported  by  the  soldiers. 
All  were  officers  of  local  unions,  or  were  serving  on  their  vari- 
ous committees. 

On  the  same  date  Jas.  D.  Ritchie  was  rearrested  for  having 
returned  to  Trinidad  to  see  his  family  without  a  permit  from  the 
military  headquarters. 

April  30th  National  Organizer  Wm.  Wardjon  was  beaten  up  at 
Sargent,  Colo.,  by  men  believed  to  be  detectives  in  the  employ  of 
the  coal  company.  He  was  taken  to  the  hospital  at  Salida  and 
was  not  expected  to  live  for  several  days,  though* he  finally  re- 
covered. 

May  2nd  eleven  strikers  were  arrested  by  the  military  authori- 
ties, and  the  same  night  thirty  men  were  deported  from  Trinidad 
to  New  Mexico,  with  instructions  not  to  return.  Several  business 
men  were  among  the  number. 

Unspeakable  Brutality. 

May  7th  Joe  Raiz  a  striker  at  Sunlight,  Colo.,  was  caught  in 
the  hills  just  back  of  camp  by  three  masked  men,  tied  to  a  tree 
and  castrated.  He  was  an  old  man,  nearly  70,  and  died  three 
days  later  from  his  awful  injuries. 

This  outrage  was  so  horrible  that  there  was  a  pretense  at  In- 
vestigation, and  the  authorities  reported  that  in  their  opinion  the 
old  man  was  not  in  his  right  mind  and  had  inflicted  his  injuries 
upon  himself. 

On  the  10th  of  May  James  D.  Ritchie  was  taken  out  of  prison, 
where  he  had  been  held  for  14  days  without  a  charge  against 


27 

him,  and  deported  for  the  second  time,  being  told  to  never  com 
back.     I  shall  have  more  to  say  of  him  later. 

On  May  17  the  military  authorities  ordered  each  of  the  strik- 
ers in  camp  near  Hastings  to  give  his  name,  age,  nativity,  occu- 
pation, and  proceeded  to  take  the  height,  weight  and  descrip- 
tion of  the  men.  Seventy-nine  of  the  men  refused  to  give  their 
names,  believing  the  information  was  being  secured  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  blacklist,  which  without  a  doubt  was  the  fact. 

Driven  Like  Droves  of  Cattle. 

The  men  who  declined  to  give  the  information  desired  by  the 
military  forces  were  then  inarched  nineteen  miles  in  the  hot  sun, 
driven  by  a  force  of  cavalry  as  if  they  were  a  drove  of  cattle, 
given  no  food  either  during  or  after  the  march,  and  lined  up  at 
the  military  headquarters  in  Trinidad,  where  they  were  photo- 
graphed, registered  and  released,  with  the  exception  of  three, 
who  were  put  in  the  military  jail. 

The  alleged  cause  of  this  outrage?  Some  time  previous  a 
repair  shop  at  Hastings  caught  fire  and  burned  down.  It  was, 
of  course,  laid  to  the  strikers.  Everything  was  laid  to  the  strik- 
ers by  the  civil  and  military  authorities.  All  the  authorities 
were  owned  by  the  coal  companies,  and  all  were  directly  or  in- 
directly in  the  pay  of  the  coal  companies. 

Did  the  strikers  set  fire  to  the  repair  shop?  Not  a  particle 
of  evidence  to  that  effect  was  brought  out.  There  is  any  amount 
of  circumstantial  evidence  to  the  contrary. 

Punished  for  the  Crimes  of  Their  Accusers. 

For  one  thing,  the  repair  shop  was  closely  guarded  by  depu- 
ties; deputy  sheriffs  swarmed  in  all  the  country  round,  and  a 
striker  could  go  nowhere  without  observation  by  them.  It  is 
hardly  conceivable  that  a  striker  could  have  gotten  into  the  shop 
without  discovery  by  deputy  sheriffs,  and  if  a  striker  did  suc- 
ceed in  entering  the  place  he  would  have  no  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing his  escape  after  setting  it  afire. 

By  any  sane  man,  by  any  impartial  agent  of  the  law,  the  very 
last  men  on  whom  suspicion  could  rest  of  responsibility  for  the 
fire  in  the  machine  and  repair  shops  would  be  the  strikers. 

If  the  fire  was  an  incendiary  one.  who  was  guilty? 

Who  should  be  guilty?  Who  would  have  an  interest  in  having 
such  a  thing  occur?  Who  had  an  opportunity  to  bring  about  its 
occurrence? 

Who  but  the  deputy  sheriffs? 

Why? 


28 

Why?  Because  there  was  "nothing  doing"  in  the  strike  field. 
Because  when  there  was  "nothing  doing"  they  were  in  danger 
of  losing  their  jobs.  And  many  of  them  are  just  the  characters 
to  undertake  any  kind  of  dirty  work,  and  no  kind  of  honest 
work. 

At  the  time  of  this  fire  deputy  sheriffs  were  being  laid  off,  los- 
ing their  jobs,  daily.  And  if  only  something  could  happen,  they 
would  have  a  new  lease  on  their  manly  occupation  of  swaggering 
around  with  a' six-shooter  on  their  hip  and  beating  up  unarmed 

strikers. 

Knowing  the  general  character  of  these  men,  is  it  at  all  un- 
fair to  at  least  suspect  them  before  others? 

1  have  gone  into  this  case  in  detail  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
typical  of  many. 

May  28th  Julian  Gomez,  District  Organizer  of  the  union,  was 
released  after  being  held  thirty  days  without  any  charge  against 
him.  He  was  instructed  to  leave  the  county,  not  to  return  under 
penalty  of  being  thrown  into  the  jail  again  until  it  should  become 
the  pleasure  of  the  military  authorities  to  let  him  out. 

This  is  in  no  sense  a  complete  list  of  outrages.  It  contains 
nothing  more  than  samples.  An  index  of  all  the  crimes  com- 
mitted by  the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  State  and 
county  and  a  list  of  the  persons  whose  lawful  rights  were  tram- 
pled in  the  dust  by  them  Avould  more  than  fill  a  book  the  size  of 
this  and  leave  no  space  for  comment. 

Persons  were  arrested  by  the  military  authorities  and  kept  in 
confinement  under  no  other  charge  than  "military  necessity." 
"Military  necessity,"  was  the  excuse  for  any  foul  or  evil  deed 
that  the  coal  companies  desired  to  have  perpetrated. 

Other  than  those  friendly  to  the  corporations,  it  was  sometimes 
impossible  to  get  even  so  much  as  the  names  of  persons  arrested 
and  deported.  Friends  and  relations  of  the  prisoners  were 
rarely  allowed  to  visit  them. 

Midnight  Law  and  Order. 

Men  were  arrested  at  midnight,  men  were  deported  at  midnight, 
houses  were  searched  for  arms  at  midnight,  and  homes  of  the 
strikers  were  torn  down  at  midnight. 

Not  only  were  strikers  arrested,  but  any  one  who  was  suspected 
of  sympathyzing  with  them  was  in  constant  danger,  and  among 
the  arrested  and  deported  men  are  to  be  found  ex-soldiers,  busi- 
ness men  and  men  with  bank  accounts  of  no  small  size. 

Nearly  every  union  official  who  went  into  the  Trinidad  dis- 
trict, with  the  exception  of  John  Mitchell,  was  beaten  into  in- 
sensibility one  or  more  times  by  the  agents  of  the  coal  operators, 


29 

• 

and  many  of  them  have  received  letters  threatening  their  lives, 
notifying  them  to  leave  the  State  or  be  put  away,  on«-  by  <>u«-. 
The  following  is  from  a  letter  bearing  the  signature  of  a  well- 
known  detective,  which  was  no  doubt  lost  by  him.  The  original 
is  in  a  safe  place.  It  clearly  shows  the  methods  pursued  by  the 
secret  agents  of  law  and  order  in  their  warfare  against  the  utfhm. 

"Pass  Him  Through  the  'Kangaroo'!" 

"Mr.  W.  H.  Reno.,  Denver,  Colo. 

"Trinidad,  Col.,  Feb.  10,   1904. 

"Dear  Sir— After  I  left  you  in  Trinidad  on  the  night  of  the  7th 
I  went  back  to  the  hotel  and  there  received  a  telephone  messag.- 
from  Jim  Peretti,  President  of  the  Union  at  Hastings,  to  the 
effect  that  a  meeting  would  be  held  in  Tobasco,  and  that -Mother 
Jones  and  Poggini  would  talk  to  the  Italians  from  the  camps  of 
Rerwind,  Hastings  and  Tobasco,  I  went  to  see  Mother  Jones  and 
she  told  me  that  her  intentions  were  to  go  to  Hastings  also  after 
the  meeting  was  over  at  Tobasco  but  Poggini  told  her  not  to  go 
there  because  it  was  very  dangerous  on  account  of  the  guards 
there. 

"Mother  Jones  spoke  at  Tobasco  about  two  hours  and  the  lan- 
guage she  used  was  something  frightful.  She  tried  to  impress 
the  Italians  with  the  idea  that  Mr.  Chapell,  President  of  the  Vic- 
tor Fuel  Co.,  had  been  stealing  the  bread  from  their  mouths  ever 
since  the  Company  was  organized.  She  told  that  one  time  she 
met  Mr.  Chapell  on  the  train  and  that  her  first  Impression  was 
that  he  was  a  nice  man  but,  after  she  spoke  to  him  for  a  few 
moments  she  concluded  that  he  was  an  hypocrite.  And  then  she 
went  to  work  and  told  of  a  certain  Italian  that  she  knew  in  To- 
basco that  had  a  dog,  and  he  did  not  know  what  to  name  it  and 
some  one  suggested  that  they  call  it  "Abraham  Lincoln"  but  he 
said  that  it  would  disgrace  the  name  of  Lincoln,  and  then  some 
one  else  suggested  that  they  call  it  "Chapell"  and  he  said  that 
the  name  would  disgrace  the  dog.  While  she  was  telling  these 
Italians  what  a  thief  Chapell  was,  an  Italian  by  the  name  of 
Joe  Madonna  spoke  and  said  that  he  had  been  working  for  Mr. 
Chapell  for  eleven  years  and  had  never  had  any  trouble  until 
he  joined  the  Union  and  for  the  last  year  and  a  half  he  had 
b«'on  in  'hot  water'  all  the  time;  he  said  that  he  would  be  will- 
ing to  go  to  work  but  he  did  not  like  to  go  first. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  think  that  the  majority  of  the  Italians 
in  and  around  Hastings  are  all  willing  to  go  to  work  but  it  *eems 
that  a  few  of  them  are  drawing  a  certain  amount  of  money  from 
the  Union  every  moiitli  and  as  long  as  these  fellows  are  paid 


30 

wages  they  will  not  toll  these  miners  to  go  to  work.  They  are 
very  much  discouraged  at  the  out-look  of  the  situation.  Sixty- 
i'our  families  arrived  in  Hastings  on  the  8th  just  the  time  when 
the  strikers  had  gone  to  Tobasco  to  listen  to  Mother  Jones' 


speech. 

* ' 


"Joe  Mosco  I  drove  out  of  town,  also  Rosario  Dolce  and  his 
family,  Nic  Odo  refused  to  vacate  and  there  was  no  way  for 
me  to  get  him  out  so  I  told  Thompson  to  arrest  him  on  the  charge 
of  vagrancy  at  about  12  o'clock  at  noon;  That  night  he  was 
taken  before  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  the  case  nolle  prossed: 
that  was  about  8  o'clock.  I  had  Gordon,  Barret,  Smith  and 
King  wait  for  him  down  by  the  bridge  and  they  "Kangaroocd 
him"  and  the  last  I  heard  of  him  he  was  in  the  hospital,  and 
he  will  not  attempt  to  come  back  to  Hastings. 

"It  seems  that  the  only  way  to  get  these  agitators  out  of  the 
camps  is  to  ''Kangaroo"  them,  and  when  they  are  all  gone  I  am 
satisfied  that  the  boys  will  go  to  work. 

•'In  regard  to  Jim  Poggini,  President  of  the  Union,  I  will  say 
that  he  seems  to  be  a  \ery  smart  man.  I  tried  to  get  him  at  his 
house  on  the  9th  but  lie  slipped  away  from  me  and  is  camping 
somewhere  below  the  Companies  property.  I  left  word  before 
I  left  to  arrest  him  on  sight  and  pass  him  through  the  "Kan- 
garoo" and  I  will  guarantee  you  that  it  will  be  a  cold  day  when 
he  gets  back  to  camp. 

"I  have  been  reporting  daily  to  Mr.  Simpson  and  also  to  Mr. 
Bartlett,  Vice  President  of  the  Victor  Fuel  Co. 

"The  boys  arrived  from  Washington,  also  the  check.  I^do  not 
know  what  plans  these  leaders  have  at  present  but  it  seems  that 
they  have  not  very  much  hopes  of  winning  the  strike.  Most  of 
the  Italians  at  Hastings  are  moving  below  the  camp's  ground 
on  a  ranch  owned  by  a  fellow  named  Peter  Orlando;  they  have 
tents  and  their  provisions  come  from  Trinidad.  Their  idea  is  to 
Keep  their  guards  on  the  ranch  and  prevent  anybody  from  going 
in  or  going  out  of  Hastings.  Don't  worry  about  this  matter  as 
I  will  attend  to  it. 

"I  left  word  with  Gordon  when  I  left,  not  to  show  any  fa  verities 
and  if  anyone  tresspnssed  to  send  them  to  the  undertaker,  a  los- 
son  or  two  like  that  will  teach  them  something  and  stop  all  the 
trouble  I  think.  Yours  truly, 

(Signed)  Chief  secret  service  for  the 

State  of  Colo." 

That  letter  shows  the  methods  of  the  "law  and  order"  legions 
in  the  coal  fields  of  Colorado, 


31 

TELLURIDE. 
Mob  Rule  Maintained  by  the  Military. 

Practically  the  same  causes  that  led  to  the  strike  in  the  Crippl" 
("reek  District  brought  about  the  strike  in  Telluride.  First  the 
mill  and  smeltemeu  went  out  for  the  eight-hour  day  which  the 
Constitution  of  the  State  guaranteed  to  them.  Then,  aggravated 
by  the  discrimination  against  union  men,  the  miners  joined  in 
the  strike.  These  strikes  have  been  declared  by  the  mine  own- 
ers to  be  sympathetic  strikes — something  which  they  regard  as 
infamous.  I  know  of  nothing  which  to  me  seems  to  be  nobler 
than  a  sympathetic  strike— a  case  where  men  who  are  not  directly 
interested  lay  down  their  tools  and  voluntarily  undergo  the 
:; \vful  and  racking  hardships  of  a  strike  in  order  to  right  the 
wrongs  of  their  fellow  workers.  But  in  neither  Telluride  nor 
Cripple  Creek  can  the  present  strike  be  said  to  be  sympathetic 
in  the  tme  sense.  The  miners  and  the  mill  and  smeltermen  were 
members  of  the  same  general  body,  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners,  .and  the  strikes  were  those  of  federated  trades. 

The  Telluride  strike  began  with  the  cessation  of  work  by  the 
mill  men  011  September  1,  '03.  The  strike  grew  in  extent  until 
on  October  21  the  men  on  the  Tom  Boy  quit,  practically  tying  up 
all  the  big  mines  in  the  district. 

From  the  time  the  strike  was  really  on.  deputy  sheriffs  in  the 
employ  of  the  mine  owners  and  managers  resorted  to  every 
species  of  insult  and  assault  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  provok- 
ing the  strikers  to  deeds  of  violence  which  might  be  used  as  an 
excuse  to  shoot  them  down  like  dogs. 

Fnarmed  pickets  of  the  strikers  were  arrested,  charged  with 
trespass— for  walking  on  the  public  highway, 

Scab,  Leave  Town,  or  Be  Shot. 

* 
Deputies   and    Citizens'    Alliance    men   stood    on    the    principal 

street  corners  armed  with  rifles  and  shot  guns,  and  Bulkeley 
Wells  went  to  the  office  of  the  Telluride  Journal  and  secured 
a  stack  of  rifles  which  he  distributed  to  the  mob  of  business  men 
and  bad  men. 

They  hoped  that  some  of  the  strikers,  on  being  arrested  with- 
out warrant  and  for  no  crime,  would  make  resistance,  in  which 
case  the  union  men  were  to  be  drowned  in  their  own  blood. 

Such  was  the  discipline  and  order  of  the  men.  however.  that 
they  stood  even  this  outrage  without  resistance,  and  later  the 
arrested  men  were  released  on  bail. 


32 

From  the  time  the  strike  was  on  the  old  cry  went  up  for  the 
militia.  Needless  TO  say  the  Governor  listened  and  responded. 
As  in  the  other  cases  where  he  had  sent  the  armed  forces  of  the 
State,  Governor  Peabody  made  no  effort  to  learn  anything  of  the 
strikers'  side  of  the  case.  The  fact  that  the  owners  wanted  sol- 
diers was  sufficient. 

No  sooner  had  the  militia  arrived  than  the  strikers  and  those 
who  sympathized  with  them  were  arrested,  on  every  conceiv- 
able charge,  and  on  no  charge. 

Not  an  official  or  committeeman  of  the  union  escaped.  Some 
of  them  were  arrested  many  times. 

Day  after  day  men  were  arrested,  many  of  them  on  the  charge 
of  "vagrancy."  One  of  the  men  arrested  on  this  charge  had 
$140  in  his  pocket  at  the  time,  but  was  not  allowed  to  give  bail. 

The  usual  procedure  was  to  arrest  a  group  of  men,  take  them 
before  the  justice,  and  then  inform  them  that  they  must  leave 
toAvn,  pay  a  fine  of  $25  for  vagrancy  or  GO  TO  WORK. 

These  men  were  miners,  and  going  to  work  meant  SCABBING 
IN  THE  MINES. 

Henry  Macki,  Lion-H carted. 

Many  of  these  men,  all  of  whom  had  means  of  support,  and 
some  of  whom  had  considerable  property,  were  fined,  and  when 
they  refused  to  pay  they  were  put  to  work  on  the  streets.  One 
man,  protesting  that  he  had  committed  no  crime,  declined  to  be 
worked  as  s  convict,  and  for  this  Henry  Macki  was  handcuffed  to 
a  telegraph  pole  in  the  public  highway.  His  spirit  was  un- 
broken, and  he  was  taken  to  the  jail,  and  starved  for  36  hours, 
but  nothing  could  break  his  lion  heart. 

Some  of  the  men  arrested  for  vagrancy  wished  to  give  bail, 
but  the  time  was  evening  and  the  justice  was  "too  sleepy." 

Strikers'  Attorneys  Assaulted  by  Deputy  Sheriff. 

The  Western  Federation  sent  attorneys  from  Denver  to  go 
into  court  on  behalf  of  these  men,  and  those  for  whom  attorneys 
appeared  on  that  occasion  were  released.  On  the  evening  of 
the  day  that  the  cases  were  tried,  Mr.  Richardson,  their  attor- 
ney, was  assaulted  by  a  deputy  sheriff,  together  with  Mr. 
Floaten,  a  citizen  and  business  man  of  Telluride,  who  was  with 
him  at  the  time. 

Yet  after  all  these  infamous  acts,  after  assaults,  outrages  and 
illegal  arrests  without  number,  the  strike  was  unbroken.  The 
men  declined  to  go  to  work.  They  still  had  friends,  and  good 
ones. 

Something  must  be  done! 

What? 


33 

Homes  of  Strikers  Searched  for  Arms. 

On  March  8  the  military  made  a  thorough  search  for  firearms. 
Armed  soldiers  entered  the  houses  of  the  citizens  and  ransacked 
every  room.  The  military  declared  that  they  had  nn-eived  re- 
ports that  a  large  number  of  guns  had  been  secreted  in  certain 
portions  of  the  town. 

Then  what? 

Martial  Law  Declared  Off. 

March  11  the  Governor  of  the  State  declared  martial  law   in 
Telluride  at  an  end. 
Then  what? 

The  Armed  Mob  with  Free  Rein. 

On  the  night  of  March  14  members  of  the  Telluride  Citizens' 
Alliance  and  others  held  a  meeting,  armed  themselves  (in  many 
cases  with  rifles  and  revolvers  owned  by  the  State)  and  they 
scoured  the  town  and  took  into  custody  79  union  men  and  sympa- 
thizers. In  many  cases  doors  to  dwelling  houses  were  broken 
open.  The  victims  were  gathered  by  ones  and  twos,  first  in  a 
vacant  lot,  then  held  in  a  vacant  store  until  all  that  were  de- 
sired had  been  secured,  when  they  were  inarched  to  the  depot 
and  loaded  into  two  railroad  coaches  and  taken  to  Ridgeway, 
where  they  were  left  and  told  never  to  return  to  Telluride. 

Others  than  strikers  and  union  men  were  deported.  Any  one 
who  was  suspected  of  a  friendly  feeling  for  the  men  was  taken 
with  the  rest.  The  mob  was  also  an  instrument  of  private  veng- 
eance. Any  member  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  who  wanted  an 
enemy  to  leave  town  had  only  to  name  him.  Among  others  who 
were  assaulted  and  deported  was  A.  H.  Floaten.  manager  of  the 
People's  Supply  Company,  the  largest  department  store  in  Tellu- 
ride. 

Wonderful  mob,  that. 

Courageous! 

The  Conspiracy. 

March  8  the  men  disarmed  by  militia. 

March   11  the  Governor  suspends   martial  law. 

Maxell  1-1  the  mob  armed  with  State  gnus  drove  the  disarmed 
union  men  from  their  homes. 

Was  it  a  conspiracy?  Was  the  Governor  in  it?  Can  any  one 
doubt  it? 


34 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Mob." 

A  wonderful  combination,  that  Telluride  mob  of  March  14. 
Acting  in  the  interest  of  "tree  labor'' — free  to  be  shot  or  leave 
town.  Look  at  the  persons  composing  it.  Solid  business  man, 
sordid  micer,  sodden  drunkard,  "companions  in  arms."  Pimp, 
profligate  and  pillar  of  the  church,  there  in  the  interests  of  home 
and  country.  Bunco,  short-card  and  cold-deck  man,  there  look- 
ing for  a  chance  to  shoot  the  decalogue  into  some  one  who  needs 
it.  Banker  and  bank  clerk,  grocer  who  owes  bank  money, 
grocer  who  wants  to  owe  bank  money — there  to  protect  "our 
business  interests."  Two  mine  managers,  two  mine  superin- 
tendents, one  superintendent  of  electric  light  company— they're 
there  to  bring  about  business  "prosperity."  A  newspaper  pro- 
prietor, a  printer  and  a  .reporter,  there  in  the  interests  of  a  free 
and  enlightened  press — or  is  it  the  hope  of  ads.  and  sinews  from 
a  mine  owner?  A  Prohibitionist  and  a  wholesale  beer  dealer, 
shoulder  to  shoulder.  Three  lawyers  there,  a  Democrat,  a  Re- 
publican and  a  mugwump,  surely  there  in  the  interest  of  lav/ 
and  justice— or  cases  from  mine  owners?  There's  one  grocer, 
solid  Democrat  and  trustee  in  a  church,  turning  to  with  all  hi;s 
heart  in  company  with  a  Republican  politician  who  keeps  a 
bawdy  house.  There's  another  grocer,  Republican,  ex-post- 
master, "smearkase  statesman,"  with  his  clerk,  who  sell  supplies 
to  a  boarding  house  run  by  the  mine  owners,  together  with  a 
Democratic  grocer  who  can  see  no  good  reason  why  he  should 
not  furnish  all  the  supplies  required  by  the  company  boarding 
house.  Most  Christian  dry  goods  merchant,  trudging  along  with 
his  competitor,  a  Jewish  dry  goods  merchant,  in  harmony  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives.  A  butcher,  a  barber,  an  ex-convict- 
there,  for  what?  And  Captain  Bulkley  Wells,  suave,  handsome, 
a  collegiate,  polished  gentleman,  millionaire,  mine  owner,  mine 
manager,  military  commandant  of  the  district — he's  there,  with 
a  dozen  militiamen  Cnot  in  uniform),  half  a  dozen  deputy  sheriffs, 
detectives,  gin  mill  keepers,  proprietors  of  gambling  houses  and 
bad  men— there  in  the  interest  of  free  labor?  peace?  harmony? 
law?  order?  morality?  Well,  Captain  AVells  knows  what  he's 
there  for— as  mine  owner. 

The  Governor  and  the  Courts. 

San  Miguel  County  was  again  placed  under  martial  law. 
Why? 

Because   Judge   Stevens   had   issued   an   injunction   restraining 
rhe   Telluride   Citizens'    Alliance,    the   Mine   Owners'    Association 


35 

and  all  others  from  in  any  way  interfering  with  the  return  of 
the  deported  men  to  their  homes. 

The  courageous  gentlemen  who  had  made  up  the  mob  th.it 
drove  honest  men  from  their  homes  did  not  like  to  come  in  close 
contact  with  the  District  Court,  so  they  again  appealed  to  their 
great  and  good  friend  Governor  Peabody  and  he  again  established 
martial  law  in  the  Telluride  district  for  the  express  purpose  of 
placing  himself  above  the  authority  of  the  courts. 

Martial  Law  to  Uphold  the  Lawless. 

Governor  Peabody  said: 

"If  they  will  CALL  OFF  THE  STRIKE  and  disperse  peace- 
ably to  their  homes,  that  is  all  1  want.  I  will  say  that  law 
and  order  will  be  preserved  in  this  State  so  long  as  I  live  and 
have  a  militia  to  accomplish  such  purpose." 

The  men  had  been  dispersed  from  their  homes  by  molts  armed 
with  the  rifles  of  the  State,  but  the  Governor  would  do  nothing 
to  protect  them. 

Stewart  Forbes,  Antone  Matti  and  A.  H.  Floaten,  three  of  the 
deported  men,  went  to  Denver  and  made  repeated  efforts  to  see 
Governor  Peabody,  but  could  not  succeed.  It  takes  a  mine 
owner  to  get  an  audience  with  the  Governor  of  Colorado. 

From  time  to  time  deported  men  returned  to  Telluride.  Some- 
times they  were  told  on  alighting  from  the  train  to  take  the  next 
train  out  of  the  town.  Sometimes  they  were  immediately 
arrested  by  the  military  authorities,  kept  over  night  in  jail,  and 
placed  on  the  morning  train  with  a  warning  not  to  return.  On 
one  occasion  sixty-four  came  back  in  a  body,  all  unarmed.  The 
next  morning  fifty-eight  of  them  were  again  deported  by  the 
militia. 

This  was  kept  up  for  months.  Hardly  a  day  went  by  that 
some  man  was  not  told  by  Bulkeley  Wells  or  Herron  (both  mine 
managers i  to  leave  town  within  one.  two  or  three  days. 

On  the  day  I  arrived  in  the  city  a  man  who  had  been  working 
in  the  mines  was  deported  on  the  charge  of  being  a  spy  for  the 
union,  working  there  for  the  purpose  of  getting  information  as  to 
the  output  of  the  mines,  etc.  Another  man.  one  of  the  strikers, 
was  warned  to  leaA*e  town  while  1  was  in  the  citv.  and  the  day 
I  left  a  man  worth  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  ordered  to  leave 
at  once.  Hi«  crime  was  his  belief  in  the  justice  of  the  union's 
cause. 

'President  Moyer  Arrested. 

Charles  Moyer.  President  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Min- 
ers, was  arrested  at  Ouray  on  the  '2t»th  of  March.  From  thai 


36 

time  till  June  14  he  was  constantly  in  charge  of  the  military 
authorities. 

The  charge  against  him  was  "desecrating  the  flag."  The  Fed- 
eration had  printed  in  red,  white  and  blue  colors  a  representa- 
tion of  the  United  States  flag,  and  on  each  of  the  thirteen  stripes 
was  printed  one  of  the  following  lines: 

"Martial  law  declared  in  Colorado.      , 

"Habeas  corpus  suspended  in  Colorado. 

"Free  press  throttled  in  Colorado. 

"Bull  pens  for  union  men  in  Colorado. 

"Free  speech  denied  in  Colorado. 

"Soldiers  defy  the  courts  in  Colorado. 

"Wholesale  arrests  without  warrant  in  Colorado. 

"Union  men  exiled  from  homes  and  families  hi  Colorado. 

"Constitutional  right  to  bear  arms  questioned  in  Colorado. 

"Corporations  corrupt  and  control  administration  in  Colorado. 

"Right  of  fair,  impartial  and  speedy  trial  abolished  in  Colorado. 

"Citizens'  alliance  resorts  to  mob  law  and  violence  in  Colorado. 

"Militia  hired  to  corporations  to  break  the  strike  in  Colorado." 

Peabody  Flouts  the  Judiciary. 

Every  one  of  those  statements  is  true.  Governor  Peabody 
knows  it.  General  Bell  knows  it.  Every  honest  man  who  is 
familiar  with  the  facts  knows  it.  A  reduced  copy  of  this  flag 
appears  on  the  cover  of  this  pamphlet. 

On  March  31  Judge  Stevens  issued  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
directing  Adjutant-General  Sherman  Bell  and  Captain  Bulkeley 
Wells  to  bring  President  Moyer  into  his  court.  Expecting  such 
a  writ  to  be  issued,  Peabody  had  ordered  Bell  to  ignore  it  before 
it  was  signed  by  the  Judge. 

When  the  military  authorities  failed  to  produce  President 
Moyer  in  his  court  Judge  Stevens  ordered  his  release,  and  ordered 
the  incarceration  of  Gen,  Bell  and  Capt.  Wells  in  the  county  jai! 
at  Ouray  without  bail,  and  fining  Bell  and  Wells  $500  each. 
At  the  same  time  the  Judge  said: 

"The  Governor  in  Insurrection  and  Rebellion." 

"A  very  grave  question  is  presented  as  to  whether  it  is  the 
striking  miners  or  the  Governor  of  Colorado  and  the  National 
Guard  that  are  engaged  in  insurrection  and  rebellion  against 
the  laws  of  the  State.'* 

No  attention  was  paid  to  the  verdict  of  Judge  Stevens.     The 
attorneys  of  President  Moyer  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  • 
Colorado.     That  court  issued  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  the 
Governor  obeyed  out  of  "courtesy  to  the  court," 


37 

The  court  refused  to  release  Mr.  Moyer,  but  took  the  matter 
under  advisement,  after  hearing  argument  of  counsel,  and  on 
June  (J  rendered  a  decision,  two  judges  concurring,  one  dissent- 
ing, that  the  Governor  of  the  State  had  the  right  to  suspend  the 
•writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  cases  of  insurrection  and  rebellion, 
and  that  he  (the  Governor)  was  the  sole  judge  of  what  consti- 
tuted insurrection  and  rebellion. 

As  the  Supreme  Court  of  Colorado  has  ruled,  the  Governor  has 
the  right  to  declare  the  State  or  any  portion  thereof  to  be  in  in- 
surrection and  rebellion  at  any  time,  and  he  is  the  sole  judge  of 
the  fact.  Having  declared  a  state  of  insurrection  and  rebellion 
to  be  in  existence,  he  can  then  use  the  military  power  of  the 
State  for  any  purpose  whatsoever,  including  the  killing  and  im- 
prisonment or  deportation  of  any  and  all  citizens,  limited  only 
by  his  own  interest,  desire  and  caprice.  This  makes  him  an 
absolute  autocrat.  By  the  use  of  this  power  he  can  not  only 
imprison  workingmen  on  strike,  if  he  likes  he  can  imprison  any 
one  who  has  the  temerity  to  contest  an  election  with  him,  or  de- 
port any  one  who  might  be  suspected  of  voting  against  him.  This 
is  ihe  import  of  the  Supreme  Court  decision,  and  one  may  well 
believe  that  the  members  of  that  court  have  joined  Peabody  in 
his  treasonable  effort  to  overthrow  all  constitutional  govern- 
ment. 

Mr.  Meyer's  attorneys  then  appealed  to  the  United  States 
Courts,  and  on  June  14  a  Federal  judge  issued  an  order  requir- 
ing Governor  Peabody  to  produce  Mr.  Moyer  in  his  court  at  St. 
Louis. 

Immediately  this  order  was  issued  Governor  Peabody,  with 
characteristic  cowardice,  delivered  Mr.  Moyer  to  the  sheriff  of 
San  Miguel  County,  that  he  (the  Governor)  might  answer  the 
writ  of  the  United  States  court  by  declaring  that  the  prisoner 
was  not  in  his  custody. 

The  Starry  Flag  Floats  Over  the  Jail. 

President  Moyer  had  been  kept  a  prisoner  by  the  military 
authorities  for  more  than  two  months  on  the  charge  of  "desecrat- 
ing the  Hag,"  and  in  all  that  time  they  had  not  been  able  to  get 
sufficient  evidence  against  him  to  take  him  into  court  and  ask 
for  his  detention  and  trial. 

When  the  Federal  court  came  into  the  case,  however,  then  the 
charge  was  made  against  him  of  "abetting  murder." 

From  the  first  day  of  the  first  strike  in  Colorado  President 
Moyer  had  counseled  the  strikers  to  be  peaceable  and  orderly. 
They  had  followed  his  advice  to  the  letter.  When  I  met  him  in 
the  military  prison  at  Tellwride,  with  the  stars  and  stripes, 


38 

boisted  by  men  in  the  pay  of  traitors  to  their  country,  floating- 
over  his  cell,  President  Moyer  was  still  counseling  peace,  and 
expressed  the  hope  and  desire  that  the  men  would  continue  to 
be  orderly  and  law  .abiding,  notwithstanding  the  outrages  wrhich 
were  being  heaped  upon  them. 

One  of  Governor  Peabody's  Anarchists. 

Governor  Peabody  unsolicited  informed  me  that  he  was  not 
opposed  to  trade  unions,  that  he  was  not  opposed  to  socialism; 
that  no  one  had  been  arrested  or  deported  by  the  military  au- 
thorities except  anarchists  and  aliens— men  who  were  fugitive;-: 
from  justice  in  their"  native  country  and  had  no  right  to  be  in 
Colorado  or  the  United  States. 

The  day  before  I  left  Trinidad  I  walked  some  miles  over  the 
mountains  where  a  man  named  Jim  Ritchie  was  in  hiding  with 
his  wrife  and  three  children. 

Jim  Ritchie  had  been  deported  once  and  returned  without  per- 
mission. He  had  then  been  arrested,  placed  in  the  military  jail, 
kept  for  fourteen  days,  and  again  deported,  with  a  warning 
"never  to  come  back."  He  was  charged  with  being  an  "agi- 
tator." 

Who  was  Jim  Ritchie?  Nobody  much.  When  the  war  with 
Spain  broke  out  Jim  Ritchie  enlisted  in  Troop  G.  First  Volunteer 
Cavalry  (the  famous  Rough  Riders),  and  served  all  through  the 
campaign  in  Cuba  with  Roosevelt.  When  Roosevelt  was  mus- 
tered out  lie  went  to  Albany  to  become  Governor  of  New  York. 
When  Jim  Ritchie  was  mustered  out  he  re-enlisted  in  an  infantry 
regiment  for  duty  in  the  Phillipines. 

Roosevelt  served  two  years  as  Governor  of  New  York.  Jiin 
Ritchie  served  one  year,  nine  months  and  eleven  days  in  the 
United  States  Army  in  the  Philippines,  and  was  honorably  dig- 
charged. 

The  Hero's  Reward. 

i 

About  the  time  that  Roosevelt  became  President  Jim  Ritchie 
became  a  coal  miner. 

About  the  time  Roosevelt  began  to  lay  the  wires  to  get  a  nom- 
ination from  the  Republican  party  Jim  Ritchie  went  on  strike. 
And  about  the  time  that  Roosevelt  was  declaring  for  the  "open 
shop"  his  old  companion  in  arms,  Jim  Ritchie,  was  being  de- 
ported from  his  home  because  he  could  no  more  be  a  scab  in 
peace  than  a  traitor  in  war. 

So  much  for  the  anarchists  that  Governor  Peabody  is  fighting. 

In  the  Trinidad  coal  field  the  employers  would  at  no  time  con- 


39 

fer  with  the  officers  of  the  union.  As  usual,  they  said  they  wen* 
at  all  times  ready  to  listen  to  anything  their  employees  had  to 
say  to  them  as  INDIVIDUALS.  But  they  absolutely  refused 
to  recognize  the  union.  Individual  employes  repeatedly  went 
to  them  and  asked  that  ills  be  remedied.  With  what  result? 
With  the  result  that  so  far  from  any  of  their  grievances  being 
remedied,  the  individuals  who  had  the  temerity  to  mention  them 
were  either  discharged  from  their  employment  or  placed  in  such 
unfavorable  places  in  the  mine  that  they  were  worse  off  than  be- 
fore. 

"Contented  Employes." 

The  coal  companies  redressed  the  grievances  of  the  men  by  the 
instant  discharge  of  any  man  who  had  a  grievance.  Their 
method  of  securing  contented  employees  was  to  discharge  every 
employee  who  was  discontented. 

The  managers  of  the  coal  companies  could  not  recognize  the 
union.  They  could  recognize  the  militia,  they  could  recognize 
the  deputy  sheriffs,  they  could  recognize  thugs  and  bad  men, , 
all  in  their  employ  and  all  paid  for  out  of  their  pockets— but  they 
could  not  recognize  the  union.  The  men  who  owned  the  coal 
mines  could  recognize  anything  and  anybody  on  earth  exccut 
the  coal  miner. 

Some  of  the  houses  furnished  the  men  by  the  companies  were 
the  worst  of  shacks.  In  some  places  the  companies  did  not  have 
sufficient  houses,  and  leased  the  men  ground  on  which  they  built 
dwellings  of  their  own— the  lease,  however,  requiring  that  they 
be  vacated  on  five  days'  notice.  But  in  one  or  two  camps,  nota- 
bly that  of  Primero,  the  company  had  erected  a  group  of  houses 
that  were  really  fit  dwelling  places  for  human  beings. 

The  demands  of  the  men,  as  I  have  said,  were  for  increased 
wages,  the  eight-hour  day,  honest  weight,  wages  to  be  paid  in 
lawful  money,  and  ventilation  of  the  mines. 

"See  the  Houses  at  Primero !" 

So  far  as  the  employers  through  their  flunkies  and  factotums 
made  any  answer  to  the  demands  of  the  men,  it  was  one  con- 
tinued anthem  in  praise  of  the  "houses  at  Primero." 

"Increase  our  wages,"  said  the  men.  "Look  at  those  houses 
at  Primero!"  replied  the  bourgeois  editor  of  the  organ  of  the  coal 
companies. 

"Give  us  the  eight-hour  day,"  said  the  miners.  "What  non- 
sense," said  the  agents  of  the  companies.  "You  men  don't 
want  the  eight-hour  day.  Look  at  those  beautiful  houses  at 
Primero!" 


40 

"Give  us  a  check  weighman,"  said  the  men,  "so  that  we  shall 
not  be  required  to  mine  3,500  pounds  of  coal  in  order  to  get  credit 
for  2,000  pounds." 

"Hogs!"  responded  the  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance, 
every  last  man  of  them  on  the  side  of  the  coal  barons.  "You 
poor  miserable  children  of  darkness!  It  is  not  a  check  weigh- 
inan  that  you  want.  A  ton  is  a  ton,  isn't  it?  whether  it  weighs 
3,500  or  2,000  pounds?  What  can  common  people  like  you  know 
about  honest  weight,  anyhow?  Look  at  those  beautiful  brick 
houses  at  Primero!" 

"Pay  us  our  wages  in  money,  instead  of  scrip  on  the  company 
store,"  said  the  men. 

"Money!  Money?"  yelled  the  chorus  of  little  business  men  in 
the  Citizens'  Alliance,  who  felt  themselves  honored  and  flattered 
when  a  mine  manager  spoke  to  them.  "Money?  For  coal  min- 
ers? You're  a  lot  of  miserable  foreigners!  It's  not  money  you 
want.  Look  at  the  houses  of  those  miners  at  Primero!  Some 
of  them  are  painted!  Besides,  we  want  all  the  money  our- 
selves!" 

.    "Ventilate  the     mines  as  the     law  requires,"  said  the     men. 
"We  must  have  air  or  we  can't  work." 

"Anarchists!"  yelled  the  bourgoise  chorus.  "You  are  a  lot  of 
Dagoes  and  Mexicans.  You  want  air?  Look  at  those  houses 
at  Primero.  Some  of  them  have  windows!" 

No  matter  what  these  thirteen  thousand  men  asked  for,  suffi- 
cient answer  unto  all  to  point  to  the  little  group  of  cottages,  and 
say  "Look  at  those  houses  at  Primero!" 

President  Roosevelt  Appealed  To. 

On  the  18th  of  last  November  Governor  Peabody  asked  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  for  help.  He  declined. 

Officers  of  the  Western  Federation  have  asked  him  for  help. 
Ho  declined. 

Private,  individuals  have  asked  him  for  help.  No  response  or 
a  declination. 

Suppose  the  union  miners  had  been  deporting  mine  owners. 
Suppose  the  union  miners  had  imprisoned  the  mine  managers  in 
a  bull  pen.  Suppose  the  union  miners  had  placed  ropes  around 
the  necks  of  such  officers  of  the  law  as  displeased  them  and  forced 
them  to  resign.  Suppose  the  union  miners  had  wrecked  the 
plant  of  such  newspapers  as  had  opposed  them,  and  placed  the 
editors  in  a  bull  pen.  Suppose  the  union  miners  had  given  every 
member  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and  of  the  Citizens' 
Alliance  the  choice  of  tearing  up  his  card  of  membership  or  be- 
ing deported  from  the  State, 


41 

When  the  President  Would  Interfere* 

Under  such  circumstances,  would  the  President  of  the  United 
States  have  interfered?  Does  anyone  doubt  it?  Mr.  Roosevelt 
cannot  interfere  so  long:  as  the  mine  owners  have  everything 
their  own  way.  If  they  should  meet  with  a  set  back  of  any 
kind,  we  shall  see  the  President  act  as  promptly  as  his  sainted 
predecessor  in  the  Coaur  d'Alenes  and  as  the  Bonded  Prophet 
did  at  Pullman. 

Maj.-Gen.  John  C.  Bates  reported  to  the  President  that  the 
mails  were  not  interfered  with.  If  the  Major-General  had  been 
able  to  escape  from  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  for  a  brief 
interval  during  his  "investigations"  in  Colorado  he  might  have 
found  that  persons  were  not  allowed  to  use  the  public  highway 
in  Hastings  to  go  to  the  Post  Office  for  their  mail,  and  that  they 
were  stopped  and  turned  back— by  strikers?  Oh,  no!  The 
Major-General  would  not  have  overlooked  such  a  fact.  They 
were  stopped  and  turned  back  by  deputy  sheriffs  in  the  pay  of 
the  coal  companies. 

Gentlemen,  Every  One  of  Them. 

The  personnel  of  some  of  the  leading  men  on  the  capitalist 
side  may  be  interesting.  Captain  Bulkeley  Wells,  a  gentleman 
and  a  savage;  Major  Hill,  a  gentleman  and  a  barbarian;  General 
Bell,  a  gentleman  and  a  fool;  Governor  Peabody,  a  gentleman 
and  a  traitor— all  gentlemen. 

On  the  other  side — men,  workingmen. 

History  might  have  been  different  in  Colorado  had  Captain 
Wells  been  a  man  instead  of  a  gentleman.  He  would  have  made 
a  good  union  man,  had  he  studied  life  a  little  more  and  Harvard 
text  books  less.  There  are  things  not  to  be  learned  from  Har- 
\ard  professors. 

Major  Hill,  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  a  humane  man  with 
an  inhuman  occupation. 

General  Bell — just  a  common  fool,  with  an  uncommon  oppor- 
tunity for  folly. 

Gov.  Peabody,  traitor.  It  is  charged  that  he  has  been  a  shy- 
iock,  note-shaver  and  dance  hall  proprietor,  I  know  not  how 
truly.  But  there  can  be  nothing  in  his  past  to  add  discredit  to 
his  infamous  present. 

All  of  them  would  deserve  hanging  except  for  two  reasons— 
perhaps  they  do  not  know  that  they  deserve  it,  and  society  can- 
not afford  to  make  hangmen.  Still,  we  may  utilize  their  own 
hangmen,  if  they  make  them,  as  I  fear  they  will. 

Some  day  the  people  will  wake  up,  and  when  they  do  these 
people  will  find  they  are  but  lice  in  the  lion's  mane, 


42 

Spirit  of  the  Men. 

Can  the  man  be  licked? 

I  met  an  Italian  striker  who  had  been  twice  deported  because 
he  would  not  go  to  work  in  the  mines,  because  he  would  not 
scab.  He  had  a  Avife  and  five  children.  Said  he  to  me: 

"I  taka  da  wife  and  da  five  baba,  and  walka  da  million  mile, 
and  eata  da  rock,  but  no  scaba  da  mine!" 

The  same  spirit  pervaded  all  the  strikers,  from  the  officers 
doAvn  to  the  humblest  man  in  the  ranks.  In  all  my  life  I  never 
have,  I  never  shall,  meet  better,  nobler,  truer  men. 

Can  such  men  be  licked?  "The  old  guard  dies,  but  never  sur- 
renders." 

And  suppose  they  die.  Their  cause  still  lives.  Not  better, 
but  stronger  hands  and  larger  numbers  take  it  up,  and  it  goes  on 
to  ultimate  victory.  Bells  and  Peabodys  will  not  accomplish  a 
task  that  foiled  a  Bismarck. 

Truth  on  the  scaffold  betrays  the  hangman  and  destroys  the 
tyrant. 

Who  Backs  the  Fight? 

Who  has  been  back  of  this  great  tight?  We  know  that  there 
has  been  some  larger  power  than  the  little  men  seen  in  the  fore- 
ground. 

Who  is  it  in  the  United  States  that  reaches  into  every  home 
and  takes  sugar  from  the  boAvl,  coffee  from  the  urn,  coal  from  the 
cellar  and  oil  from  the  lamp? 

AVho  is  it  in  the  United  States  that,  through  his  control  of 
poAverful  banks,  makes  money  plenty  when  he  wants  to  bull  the 
market  and  sell  stocks  and  bonds,  and  makes  money  scarce  when 
he  Avants  to  bear  the  market  and  buy  stocks  and  bonds? 

Who  is  it  in  America  that  issues  his  orders  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  House  of  Representatives,  dictates  to  Governors  and 
State  Legislatures,  buys  aldermen  and  corrupts  judges? 

AVho  is  it  in  the  United  States  that  is  greater  than  any  or  all  of 
thorn — for  a  time? 

AVho  is  it  that  has  been  under  indictment  by  grand  juries  in 
State  after  State  in  the  American  Union,  and  never  yet  beeu 
brought  to  trial  in  any  of  them,  though  his  guilt  is  known  and 
proven  ? 

AVho  is  it  that  controls  our  steel  industry,  our  raihvay  industry, 
our  coal  industry,  our  very  life? 

AVho  is  it  that  teaches  business  in  his  Bible  class? 

Who  is  it  that  has  left  a  trail  of  incendiarism  and  bloodshed 
and  crime  in  every  industry  that  ho  has  acquired? 


43 

Who  is  it  that  arms  his  hired  thugs  to  beat  union  men  in  Trini- 
dad and  buys  lawyers,  legislators  and  governor  to  beat  the  Con 
stitution  of  Colorado  in  the  Capitol  at  Denver? 

Who  is  it? 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Most  Christian  Criminal. 

Who  could  it  be  but  John  D.  Rockefeller,  J,  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Meyer  Guggenheim,  George  Gould  and  the  little  band  of  pirates 
in  business  and  freebooters  in  commerce  who  are  rapidly  becom- 
ing by  illegal  methods  the  legal  owners  of  everything  in  America, 
including  its  government. 

WHO  COULD  IT  BE  BUT  KING  CAPITAL? 

The  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Co.,  the  Victor  Fuel  Co.,  the  Ameri- 
can Smelting  &  Refining  Co.  and  the  United  States  Reduction 
&  Refining  Co.  are  all  members  of  the  Manufacturers'  Associa- 
tion of  the  United  States  of  America.  Back  of  all  the  puny  indi- 
viduals who  appear  in  the  foreground  are  the  great  financiers, 
the  great  captains  of  industry,  the  men  who  OWN  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  , 

An  Army  Wanted. 

But  the  members  of  the  Manufacturers'  Association  were  not 
sufficient  in  numbers  to  carry  out  their  infamous  purpose  of  de- 
stroying the  union.  They  owned  the  Governor  of  the  State  and 
its  military  forces,  but  they  were  insufficient  for  the  purpose. 
They  could  supply  offices  and  generals  to  guide,  but  they  had  no 
army  to  do  things.  What  should  be  done?  Where  was  an  army 
to  be  found? 

An  Army  Found. 

The  small  business  men!  THEY  must  supply  the  army.  So 
the  work  of  organizing  Citizens'  Alliances  was  pushed.  Emis- 
saries were  sent  about  to  stir  up  in  the  little  business  man  r« 
hatred  of  the  union.  These  emissaries  said  nothing  about  the 
wrongs  suffered  by  the  small  merchant  at  the  hands  of  the 
trusts  and  corporations.  They  magnified  every  little  difficulty 
of  the  merchant  class  with  the  trade  union.  They  pointed  to 
the  boycott,  the  eight-hour  day,  the  early-closing  movement,  and 
used  fact  and  fiction  to  make  the  little  business  man  think  that 
all  his  troubles  were  due  to  labor  organizations. 

The  arts  of   sophistry   and   persuasion  succeeded .  with   many. 
With  others  coercion  was  necessary.     This  was  supplied  by  the 
large  capitalists  at  first.     Many  a  man  was  forced  into  the  Citi 
zens'  Alliance  by  his  banker.     The  latter  had  merely  to  deiiianu 


44 

payment  of  loans  already  made  or  refuse  to  make. loans  that  wero 
the  only  salvation  from  bankruptcy.  In  other  cases  it  was  the 
matter  of  various  supplies  required  by  the  larger  corporations. 
Ihe  members  of  the  Manufacturers'  Association  wanted  the 
middle  class  to  organize  to  help  them  tight  labor  organizations, 
and  they  did  not  scruple  to  use  coercion  of  the  foulest  kind. 

The  Citizens'  Alliance  has  supplied  the  army  to  do  the  dirty 
work  in  this  war  in  Colorado. 

The  eventual  outcome  should  rather  excite  pity  than  hate. 

Think  of  a  little  business  man  who  has  not  sense  enough  to 
know  that  a  workingman  receiving  high  wages  can  and  will  buy 
more  of  his  goods  than  he  could  if  his  wages  were  reduced. 

But  that  is  to  be  the  least  of  his  troubles.  The  little  business 
men  of  Colorado  have  been  doing  their  best  to  assist  the  great 
captains  of  industry  to  destroy  the  trade  unions.  If  they  suc- 
ceed, where  will  they  be  then?  Do  they  think  that  their  fight 
for  life  will  be  easier  when  they  come  face  to  face  with  the  trust 
because  the  trade  unions  have  been  destroyed? 

The  Citizens'  Alliance  doing  the  dirty  work  of  the  mine  own- 
ers to  enable  them  to  beat  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
destroyed  the  co-operative  store  of  the  union,  but  do  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  think  they  will  be  able  to  destroy 
the  department  store  when  it  comes  to  Cripple  Creek? 

The  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  could  perform  no  act 
which  would  hasten  their  own  bankruptcy  more  than  the  over- 
throw of  the  union,  and  when  they  cease  business  by  being 
forced  out  of  business— what  then? 

Then  these  \ery  same  men  will  become  wage-earners,  and  if 
they  are  not  fools  as  wage-earners  they  will  find  that  they  can 
further  their  interests  by  organizing  into  unions— and  they  are 
striving  to  destroy  the  only  thing  that  can  be  their  future  refuge. 

•^ 

Digging  Their  Own  Graves. 

So  far  as  the  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  succeed  in 
their  purpose  to  overthrow  the  trade  unions,  they  but  dig  their 
own  grave,  and  aid  the  trusts  to  pile  dirt  on  the  coffin. 

n 

All  but  the  Government. 

The  men  on  strike  in  Colorado  had  the  law  on  their  side.  They 
had  the  Constitution  on  their  side.  They  had  justice  and  hu- 
manity on  their  side.  They  had  everything  on  their  side  except 
tho  Government.  The  Government  was  on  the  side  of  the  mine 
owners.  Now  as  aforetime  the  capitalists  had  taken  the  pre 
caution  Lo  capture  the  government  in  order  to  defy  the  law.  They 


45 

used  the  sworn  officers  of  the  law  to  accomplish  the  law's  over- 
thrown. They  defiled  the  Legislature  and  defied  the  Constitu- 
tion and  debauched  the  courts.  They  bought  or  bent  the  highest 
executive  officer  of  the  State  to  do  their  will,  and  obedient  to 
their  commands  he  has  violated  all  the  rights  of  a  free  people 
and  violated  his  oath  of  office  that  he  might  poison  the  sacra- 
ments of  human  liberty.  From  the  first  day  of  the  first  strike 
the  Governor  of  the  State  could  have  ended  the  trouble  by  en- 
forcing the  law  and  Constitution  of  Colorado  in  the  spirit  of 
American  freedom.  He  preferred  to  make  himself  the  Czar  of 
Colorado  and  to  make  the  Centennial  State  an  American  Siberia 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  There  were  other  things  in  tho 
Colorado  Labor  War  besides  the  eight-hour  day  and  the  dis- 
crimination against  union  men,  but  they  were  trifles.  If  at  any 
one  time  during  the  struggle  the  Governor  had  enforced  the 
eight-hour  law  and  the  legal  right  of  the  men  to  join  a  labor 
union  had  been  maintained,  everything  would  have  been  settled 
on  three  days'  notice. 

The  mine  owners  said  they  wanted  free  labor;  they  lied.  They 
wanted  cheap  labor,  not  only  cheap  labor,  but  slave  labor.  They 
wanted  dogs  to  do  men's  work.  But  it  is  not  to  be.  Shameful 
as  they  may  think  it,  slaves  cannot  do  the  freeman's  task! 

The  mine  owners  declared  that  men  should  not  be  forced  into 
the  union.  The  men  struck  thq,t  their  members  should  not  be 
forced  out  of  the  union. 

Manifesto  by  the  Western  Federation. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  these  conditions  inspired  the  officers  of 
The  union  to  say: 

"The  Executive  Board  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
in  executive  session  assembled,  with  one  voice  proclaim  that  the 
infamy  and  barbarism  of  military  rule  in  Colorado  beggars  the 
vocabulary  of  the  English  language  for  words  to  give  expression 
to  our  denunciation  of  the  official  anarchy  that  has  blackened 
and  disgraced  the  history  of  the  state.  In  all  the  annals  of  the 
history  of  nations,  where  tyrants  have  wielded  the  iron  rod  of 
persecution  and  oppression,  and  crimsoned  history  with  chap- 
ters of  cold-blooded  brutality,  Colorado  rises  like  an  unrivalled 
monarch  of  them  all,  and  with  a  governor  that  is  lost  to  shame 
and  every  principle  of  justice,  makes  the  dark  ages  look  like  a 
painting  of  Paradise. 

"We  have  borne  with  patience  the  repeated  wrongs  of  corpor- 
ate and  commercial  vengeance,  administered  by  a  debauched 
chief  executive.  We  have  admonished  the  members  of  the  West- 
ern Federation  of  Miners,  during  all  the  stormy  days,  weeks  and 


4G 

months  of  the  conflict  in  Colorado,  to  remain  cool  and  calm,  and 
bear  with  fortitude  the  unholy  and  impious  imputations  that 
nave  been  hurled  against  them  from  the  slanderous  lips  of  hate, 
hatched  and  incubated  in  the  womb  of  dehumanized  greed.  We 
have  counselled  respect  and  reverence  for  the  law,  when  our 
members  were  made  martyrs  of  persecution,  and  though  our 
mental  vision  could  behold  them  incarcerated  in  military  peni- 
tentiaries, arrested  without  charge  or  warrant,  though  we  could 
behold  them  torn  from  their  wives  and  families  and  their  homes 
desecrated  by  uniformed  outlaws,  though  we  could  see  them  de- 
ported and  exiled,  and  hear  the  wails  of  agony  that  burst  from 
the  bleeding  and  despairing  hearts  of  frenzied  and  distracted 
women  and  children,  yet  amid  all  the  unparalleled  and  unprece- 
dented outrages  that  appeal  to  the  manhood  of  American  citizen- 
ship for  justice,  we  have  proclaimed  peace,  peace,  peace,  until 
the  very  words  seem  to  mock  the  spirit  of  liberty  that  dwells  in 
the  human  heart,  until  the  very  word  'peace'  seems  to  become 
but  another  name  for  cowardice.  We  have  been  patient  and  ad- 
monished peace,  while  courts  were  defied  and  the  constitution  of 
state  and  nation  trampled  under  foot.  We  have  been  patient 
and  admonished  peace,  while  our  members  were  goaded  by  the 
exultant  jeers  of  bayonet-equipped  mobs,  and  their  mothers, 
wives,  sisters  and  daughters  insulted  by  the  foul  and  brazen  con- 
duct of  a  libertine  soldiery,  recruited  from  the  vagrants  of  the 
slums." 

What  is  back  of  all  these  outrages? 

THE  CAPITALIST  SYSTEM  OF  PRODUCTION. 

The  Same  Old  Fight. 

The  PRIVATE  OWNERSHIP  of  mine,  mill,  factory  and  work- 
shop. It  is  a  fight  of  MINERS  against  MINE-OWNERS.  Work- 
ingmen  on  one  side,  capitalists  and  their  agents  on  the  otLer 
side. 

It  is  the  same  old  fight  between  laborers  and  capitalists  which 
will  never  be  settled  until  the  WORKERS  become  the  OWNERS 
of  the  tools  with  which  and  the  land  on  which  they  labor. 

The  Only  Remedy. 

HOW  shall  we  workingmen  ever  become  such  owners?  By 
making  our  fight  a  political  as  well  as  an  economic  one.  The 
men  who  own  the  mines  and  mills  to-day  get  their  title  through 
ti>e  law.  Tne  law  comes  out  of  the  ballot  box.  We  working- 
men  put  the  law  into  the  ballot  box.  Just  as  in  the  past  we 
have  put  laws  into  the  ballot  box  which  have  allowed  the  Rocke- 


47 

fellers  and  Morgans  to  make  private  property  of  mine  and  mill. 
so  in  the  future  we  can  put  that  law  in  the  ballot  box  which  will 
make  those  things  SOCIAL  property,  owned  by  all.  Then  there 
will  be  no  strikes,  no  lockouts,  no  bull  pens,  no  deportations. 

Colorado  is  a  great  State,  her  mountains  are  filled  with  gold, 
silver  and  other  metals  and  coal,  her  soil  is  prolific,  its  products 
\  aried,  her  climate  is  balm  to  the  afflicted.  But  Colorado's 
Capitol  at  Denver  is  lousy  with  vermin  in  the  fold  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  This  year  Colorado  spends  $50,000  on  an  exhibit 
at  the  World's  Fair  in  the  hope  of  inducing  people  to  come  to 
the  Centennial  State,  and  in  the  same  time  the  traitor  in  the 
Governor's  chair  spends  $700,000  in  deporting  the  skilled  labor 
from  the  State. 

There  would  have  been  a  different  Story  of  the  Flag  and  Colo- 
rado if  the  Avorkingmen  of  that  State  had  captured  the  Govern- 
ment before  going  on  strike.  There'll  be  a  different  story  yet  to 
tell  if  in  the  future  they  vote  against  Republican  Deportation 
Peabody  and  against  Democratic  Bull-pen  Steunenberg;  against 
Republican  Coeur  d'Ale.nes  McKinley  and  against  Democratic 
Pullman  Cleveland,  no  matter  in  what  form  or  under  what  name 
they  may  appear  on  the  ballot.  ONLY  IN  SOCIALISM  SHALL 
WE  FIND  PEACE. 

Your  Fight,  Reader.    You  May  Be  Next. 

If  we  workingmen  of  the  North,  South.  East  and  West  would 
not  be  deported,  if  we  would  not  be  bull-penned,  if  we  would  not 
be  shot,  we  had  best  arouse  ourselves.  We  union  men  should 
see  to  it  that  our  brethren  do  not  want  for  money.  Long  and 
painfully  these  Colorado  heroes  have  struggled.  They  have 
been  fighting  the  battles  of  the  whole  labor  movement  as  well 
as  their  own.  They  have  suffered,  we  have  read  of  their  suffer- 
ings; they  have  been  shot  down  like  dogs,  driven  from  their 
homes  like  criminals,  imprisoned  in  bull  pens  like  cattle — we  Inn  e. 
only  read  of  their  imprisonment,  their  deportation,  and  their 
slaughter. 

But  it  will  soon  be  up  to  us.  Whaf  is  done  in  Colorado  to-day 
may  be  done  in  Illinois  to-morrow,  in  NewT  York  a  day  later  and 
next  day  in  Massachusetts. 

If  you  would  help  your  brother  union  men  in  Colorado,  strike 
for  freedom  in  your  own  home.  Whether  it  be  in  Now  York  or 
New  Orleans,  in  Maine  or  Minnesota,  every  blow  struck  for  the 
freedom  of  the  working  class  will  be  felt  in  Colorado  and 
around  the  world.  Free  yourseves,  and  you  will  free  them.  And 


48 

there  is  no  way  in  which  you  can  strike  more  effectively  than  by 
a  Socialist  ballot. 

Choose  Ye  Now! 

If  you  would  rather  your  union  would  be  destroyed  than  go 
into  politics,  don't  do  it. 

If  you  would  rather  be  shot  than  join  the  Socialist  party,  don't 
do  it. 

If  you  would  rather  be  a  slave  than  vote  the  Socialist  ticket, 
don't  do  it. 

Your  choice  is  between  capitalism,  slavery  and  death  on  the 
one  side,  and  Socialism,  liberty  and  life  on  the  other. 

Which  shall  it  be?    Choose  ye  now. 


o  ^ 

ii 


—••  -i 

•    •  —I 


5^  <:---' 


B-3     H     —•-  o 

r:---.;  -;  -•• 

»  „    .  ,.-\  '     r 

-»  '       J 


t  "•  AX1 

_->-._ 

g      J      r^ 

*-••  «.  «=   »       ^j" 


GL 


L-      , 
h'} 


I. 


c^      ft.      ^ 

u-i\i 


_ 

a 


^^ 

-• 


THE  SOCIALIST  PARTY 


NATIONAL 
TICKET 


For  President :  Eugene  V.  Debs 


For  Vice  President: 
Benjamin  Hanford 


FOR 


Information  abont  the  Socialist  Party  apply  to 
NATIONAL   SECRETARY 

WILLIAM   MAILLY 

No.    269    DEARBORN    ST. 
— i^— — —  CHICAGO,    ILL.  — ^— -^^ 


In  the  States  of  New  York  and  Wisconsin  this  Party 
on  the  ballot  under  the  name  of  ''Social  Democratic 
Party.'       In  New  York  its  official  emblem  is  the  Arm  and 
Torch.    In  the  State  of  Minnesota  the  capitalist  courts  have 
d  us  the  right  to  use  our  chosen  name,  so  our  ticket 
appear  on  the   ballot   this  year    under   the   name  of 
olic  Ownership  Party." 


Hew  VorKcr  Uol^zcitung 


3>cn  3it*ercffett  dcs  arbcitcttftcn  fclfcs  actui^mct 

g)ffice  184  'g&ffiam  §fr.,  'glen  ^orfc 

1878  -O-  $J.  ©.  &*v  1512 

€rf(beint  taslid>,  r.cbft  Sonntags-  und  UJodKttblatt 

bet  aflen  3eitung§f)anMern  §u  ^aben,    28oc^entag§  2 

(Sontttag§  5  Sent§ 
3lbamt£mcnl#-$>r0ir£  iitcl*  ^Jail^atrto  : 

Xageblatt  $6.00  per  gafjr  ©onntag§blatt  $2.00  per 

SBocfienblatt  $1.00  per  Sctfjr 
itnb  @onntag§blatt  jufammen  $8.00  per 


•f     4- 


©nt^filt  64  (Spatten  be§  intereffanteften  SefeftoffcS  unb  tft  ber* 
moge  jeiner  3^etd£)^aIttgMt  tnie  fein  anbere^  33Iatt  geeignet, 
iiber  bie  ^organge  auf  ber  SSeltenbii^ne  unb  befonber§  iiber 
5Zeue  auf  bem  ©ebtet  ber  Slrbetterbemegitng  §11  nnterrtc^ten 

Jfbonnement  i.oo  per  3abr  Had)  €uropa  $2,00  per  Uabr  r 


"THE  WORKER" 

A    WEEKLY    PAPER. 

Published  in  the  Interest  of  the  WorKing  Class  and  Advocating  the 
Principles   of  the    Socialist    Party 

(Known  in  N.  Y.  State  as  the  SOCIAL  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY) 
Subscription  Price,  One  year,   5O  cents,  Six  months,   25  cents 

Single  copy,  2  cents 

THE;  WORKER    prints  the  News  of  Labor  and  of  the  Socialist 

movement  at  home  and  abroad 
Read  THE  WORKER,    it   defends   the  inteiests  of  the  working 

class   and  is  the  leading  organ  of  the  greatest  movement 

of  the  day 

Sample    Copy    Free    on    Application 

"THE  WORKER" 

P.  0.  Box  1512  184  William  St..  New  YorH , 


03 
-3 

-a 

01 


-3 

O5 


n 

| 

o 
o- 

tfi 


I 


cr 
o 


5 


YA 07959 


M206218 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


